The rich cause the majority of the climate-damaging CO2 emissions
People from industrialized countries are responsible for a large part of the CO2 emissions. Because of this inequality, the Oxfam organization is demanding significantly higher taxes on climate-damaging cars and on frequent flights.
According to a study by Oxfam, the richest percent of people cause more than twice as much CO2 emissions as the entire poorer half of the world's population. The report of the association of development and aid organizations was presented in the run-up to the general debate of the 75th UN General Assembly, which starts on Tuesday in New York. As countermeasures, Oxfam is calling for greater investments in public infrastructure such as public transport, a climate-neutral transformation of the global economy and, above all, a reduction in the CO2 emissions of wealthy and rich people.
The study looks at the period from 1990 to 2015, during which global emissions of climate-damaging carbon dioxide doubled. During the period, the richest ten percent of the world's population, equivalent to around 630 million people, caused 52 percent of global CO2 emissions. The richest percent alone is responsible for 15 percent of emissions, while the poorer half of the world's population is responsible for only seven percent of emissions through their consumption.
Inequality in Germany too
Although in a global comparison even German low-wage earners belong to the wealthy group, according to the Oxfam study, there are also strong inequalities in CO2 emissions in Germany. The richest ten percent, i.e. 8.3 million people, caused 26 percent of German CO2 emissions during the study period. They are therefore only slightly behind the poorer half of the population, which, with 41.5 million people, caused 29 percent of the emissions in Germany.
According to Ellen Ehmke, an expert on social inequality at Oxfam Germany, "a policy that focuses on consumption incentives, promises perpetual growth and divides the world economically into winners and losers is responsible for the fact that the catastrophic consequences of the climate crisis are already being felt in many places." Ehmke explains "the poorest pay the price for the consumption frenzy of a rich minority."
Restrict SUVs and air traffic
Ehmke, therefore, demands that “we have to solve the climate and inequality crisis together.” The report names air traffic, which is increasing steadily around the world, and city SUVs, which are due to high sales figures between 2010, as the greatest levers for avoiding CO2 emissions and became the second-largest emissions driver in 2018. As a first step, Ehmke, therefore, calls for "taxes for climate-damaging SUVs and frequent flying."