A very small group of “super-rich” individuals is linked to disproportionately large climate damages due to engaging in or investing in high-emission activities and through their lifestyles.
The accusation is made by the international environmental organization Greenpeace, in a report released recently by its African branch.
According to the analysis, in 2022 the investments of the world’s wealthiest 0.01% were linked to an estimated $992 billion of “climate debt.” This term is used by the rapporteurs to describe the climate damages quantified in monetary terms that are associated with emissions that exceed the amount of carbon that can be released into the atmosphere without surpassing the 1.5-degree Celsius warming limit.
The report also notes that the climate debt related to the consumption of these 0.01% richest people reached $405 billion in 2022.
“We are realizing that the climate impact of the extremely rich is much greater than we previously thought,” said, in a note, Clara Thompson, of Greenpeace International.
“Still, governments often ask ordinary citizens to bear the burden of climate action while paying less and less attention to those with the greatest climate debts and with the means to cover the costs of the climate collapse: the wealthy investors and the big polluters. Something is fundamentally unbalanced,” notes the climate justice and tax specialist.
The environmentalists say that this data shows that to properly understand the climate responsibility that should be demanded one must not only focus on consumption, such as the greenhouse gas emissions from private jets, but also attend to the climate impacts of the investments made. In other words, it’s not enough to look at extravagant lifestyles; it is also necessary to pay attention to the impacts of their bank accounts.
And they say that as extreme climate phenomena become more intense and have more severe impacts around the world, the gap between the needs for climate financing — especially for poorer countries, which contribute less to the climate crisis and are more vulnerable to its effects — and the money that is actually channeled by wealthier countries for that support grows. The climate financing needs are estimated at, at least, one trillion dollars per year.
The report suggests that taxing the climate damages associated with emissions resulting from investments and financial and tangible assets (such as real estate) would, in itself, be sufficient to cover a significant portion of the climate financing needs of developing countries.
“Taxing multimillionaires for the true costs of their polluting investments and lifestyles is not radical; it is fair and necessary to finance climate action, combat ecosystem degradation, and promote climate justice for communities that are already paying the price of a crisis they did not cause,” says Koaile Monaheng, of Greenpeace Africa.
“If nothing is done urgently, the ultra-rich will continue to pollute and profit from destruction and exploitation while the world burns,” it concludes.
