Paper in Nature Climate Change journal reveals major role wealthy emitters play in driving climate extremes
The world’s wealthiest 10% are responsible for two-thirds of global heating since 1990, driving droughts and heatwaves in the poorest parts of the world, according to a study.
While researchers have previously shown that higher income groups emit disproportionately large amounts of greenhouse gases, the latest survey is the first to try to pin down how that inequality translates into responsibility for climate breakdown. It offers a powerful argument for climate finance and wealth taxes by attempting to give an evidential basis for how many people in the developed world – including more than 50% of full-time employees in the UK – bear a heightened responsibility for the climate disasters affecting people who can least afford it.
“Our study shows that extreme climate impacts are not just the result of abstract global emissions; instead we can directly link them to our lifestyle and investment choices, which in turn are linked to wealth,” said Sarah Schöngart, a climate modelling analyst and the study’s lead author.
That it’s less than half of the 1% and less that a fourth of the 0.1%…
What I didn’t go I to was a lot of what’s counting against the top 50% is global shipping, which these days they have no control over.
People in the first world buying cheap plastic junk made in the third world aren’t doing it because it’s cheaper, these days it’s still expensive and often the only available option.
Like, why are people having difficulty in 2025 understanding that this shit is just so the 99% fight each other instead of uniting against the people who are actually the problem?
You misunderstand these values. The say “if everyone would pollute, like the top …” But when you have 10 people emitting 1% of all emissions and 1000 people emitting 10% of all emissions, you wont get the emissions down to a sustainable level, unless you also address the emissions of the 1000 people.
It doesn’t matter for the climate change, who or how many people emit, just how much it is in total. I agree that those who emit disproportionately also need to pay more to fix it.