Climate catastrophe: The richest consume 15 times as much CO₂ as poorer Germans

According to an Oxfam study, the richest percent of the world’s population has that many in 2019 Greenhouse gases caused like the five billion people who make up the poorer two-thirds. On Germany Relatedly, the richest percent of residents caused a total of 83.3 tons in 2019 CO2emissions per capita per year, more than 15 times as much as the poorer half of the German population, according to the report “Climate Equality: A Planet for the 99%” presented by the development organization on Monday.

Oxfam presented the study in advance of the November 30th in Dubai United Arab Emirates beginning UN Climate Change Conference COP28 before. In Germany, the richest ten percent were responsible for 28 percent of the CO2 emissions caused by consumption in 2019, and the richest percent were responsible for eight percent of the emissions.

“Through their extreme consumption, the rich and super-rich are fueling the climate crisis, which is threatening the livelihoods of billions of people with heat waves, droughts and floods, especially in the low-income countries of the Global South,” explained Oxfam’s social inequality officer, Manuel Schmitt. Extreme wealth is a key driving force for this Climate crisis.

For the report, Oxfam, together with the Stockholm Environment Institute, analyzed greenhouse gas emissions from consumption by income class for 2019 and the period 1990-2019. The report is based on the knowledge that consumption emissions of people increase as income increases, for example through more frequent air travel, larger apartments or houses and higher overall consumption, in extreme cases in the form of luxury villas, mega yachts and private jets.