A person from the richest 0.1% produces more carbon pollution in a day than someone in the bottom 50% produces all year

• Since 1990, the richest 0.1% has increased their share of total emissions by 32%, whilst the poorest half of humanity have actually seen their share fall by 3%. 
• In sub-Saharan Africa, the richest 10% emit 60% of the regional carbon emissions, while the poorest 50% emit just 8%. 
• If everyone emitted carbon like the richest 0.1%, the carbon budget - the amount of CO2 that can be emitted while avoiding climate disaster - would be used up in less than 3 weeks. 
• To stay within the limits of the 1.5°C threshold, the richest 0.1% would need to cut their per capita emissions by 99% by 2030.  

Ahead of the major international climate conference COP30 in Belem, Brazil, new Oxfam research finds that the high-carbon lifestyles of the super-rich are blowing through the world’s remaining carbon budget - the amount of CO2 that can be emitted while avoiding climate disaster. The research also details how billionaires are using their political and economic influence to keep humanity hooked on fossil fuels to maximize their private profit. 

The report, Climate Plunder: How a powerful few are locking the world into disaster, presents extensive new updated data and analysis which finds that a person from the richest 0.1% produces more carbon pollution in a day than the poorest 50% emit all year. If everyone emitted like the richest 0.1%, the carbon budget would be used up in less than 3 weeks. 

The super-rich are not just overconsuming carbon, but also actively investing in and profiting from the most polluting corporations. Oxfam’s research finds that the average billionaire produces 1.9 million tons of CO2e a year through their investments. Nigeria’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, produces 16 million tons of CO2e, equivalent to flying around the world 78,044 times in a private jet. Almost 60% of billionaire investments are classified as being in high climate impact sectors such as oil or mining, meaning their investments emit two and a half times more than an average investment in the S&P Global 1,200. The emissions of the investment portfolios of just 308 billionaires totals more than the combined emissions of 118 countries. 

“Even in Africa, the super-rich are funding and profiting from climate destruction, while the vast majority of the population struggles to find clean water or grow food amid all the climate disasters caused by the billionaires’ unchecked power,” said Fati N’Zi-Hassane, Director of Oxfam in Africa. 

The power and wealth of super-rich individuals and corporations have also allowed them to wield unjust influence over policymaking and water down climate negotiations. At COP29, 1,773 coal, oil, and gas lobbyists were granted badges, more than the 10 most climate-vulnerable nations combined. Multiple rich and high-emitting countries including the US, UK, France and Germany have watered down climate laws after large donations from anti-climate lobbyists.

"A handful of billionaires and corporations are steering us toward climate disaster. They are spreading lies, blocking progress, and getting richer by burning the planet. It's time to tax their wealth, end their grip on politics, and give real power to the people on the front lines of climate change, said N’Zi-Hassane.

The emissions of the richest 1% are enough to cause an estimated 1.3 million heat-related deaths by the end of the century, as well as $44 trillion of economic damage to low- and lower-middle-income countries by 2050. The impacts of these climate damages will disproportionately impact those who have done the least to cause the climate crisis particularly people living in the Global South, women, girls and Indigenous groups -an average American emits almost 30 times more CO2 than an average person in sub-Saharan Africa.

COP 30 marks ten years since the Paris Agreement in 2015 during this period, the world’s richest 1% have burnt through more than twice as much of the carbon budget than the poorest half of humanity combined

Ahead of COP30, Oxfam calls on governments to cut the emissions and dismantle the political and economic power of the super-rich through: 

• Slash the emissions of the super-rich and make the richest polluters pay, through taxation on extreme wealth, excess profits taxes on fossil fuel corporations, and supporting the UN Convention on International Tax Cooperation. A 60% tax on the total incomes of the richest 1% globally could cut carbon emissions equivalent to the total emissions of the UK and generate in the region of $6.4 trillion. 
• Curb the economic and political influence of the richest by banning fossil fuel corporations from climate negotiations such as COP, implementing sustainability regulations for corporations and financial institutions, and reject trade and investment agreements like ISDS that put the interests of the super-wealthy above public good.  
• Strengthen the participation of civil society and Indigenous groups in climate negotiations and address the unequal impacts of climate change. 
• Adopt a fair-share approach to the remaining climate budget by committing to NDC’s that reflect historical responsibility and capacity to act, and ensuring rich countries deliver ambitious climate finance. 
• Build an equal economic system that puts people and planet first by rejecting dominant neoliberal economics and moving towards an economy based on sustainability and equality.