Recent research published in Nature Climate Change has revealed that the richest 10% of the global population is responsible for two-thirds of global warming since 1990 and for the increase in extreme climate events, such as heat waves and droughts, according to The Japan Times. The study quantifies for the first time the impact of private wealth concentration on extreme climate events, using models that combine global economic data and climate simulations to trace emissions from different global income groups and assess their impact on specific types of extreme weather phenomena related to global warming.
Lead author Sarah Schöngart, a researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg, Austria, stated, "We link the carbon footprints of the wealthiest individuals directly to real-world climate impacts," according to The Japan Times. She added, "Our study shows that extreme climate impacts are not just the result of abstract global emissions, but we can directly link them to our lifestyle and our investment decisions, which in turn are linked to wealth."
The findings indicate that the richest 1% of people in the world contributed 26 times more than the global average to once-a-century heat waves and 26 times more to the increase in global temperature extremes. "The richest 10% contribute 6.5 times more than an average person to global warming," Schöngart noted. Moreover, the richest 1% alone are responsible for one-fifth of the increase in temperatures.
Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, a co-author of the study, stated, "Climate action that does not take into account the disproportionate responsibilities of the richest risks missing one of the most powerful levers we have to reduce future damages," according to The Japan Times. He emphasized that making wealthy polluters pay could also provide much-needed support for adaptation and loss and damage in vulnerable countries. "If everyone had emitted like the poorest 50% of the global population, global warming would have been minimal since 1990," Schleussner added.
The study reveals that emissions from the wealthiest 10% in China and the United States, which together account for nearly half of global carbon pollution, each led to a two-to-threefold rise in heat extremes, multiplying extreme temperatures in vulnerable regions by two or three times. The effects of wealthy emissions are especially severe in vulnerable tropical regions, such as the Amazon, Southeast Asia, and Southern Africa, which have historically contributed less to global emissions. Specifically, the richest 1% contributed 17 times more to droughts in the Amazon, according to the findings.
Schöngart also stated, "It's a shift from carbon accounting toward climate accountability," and emphasized the need for climate policies aimed at reducing emissions from wealthy emitters. The study emphasizes the importance of pollutant emissions related to financial investments in greenhouse gas emissions, not just the correlation with the lifestyle or personal consumption of the richest individuals. It suggests that focusing on financial flows and the portfolios of high-income individuals could yield substantial benefits for the climate.
The authors emphasize that redistributing responsibility for climate action according to actual contributions to pollutant emissions "is essential," not only to curb global warming but to achieve a fairer and more resilient world. They believe these conclusions can help initiate progressive political instruments aimed at social elites. The authors point out that such policies could also foster social acceptance of climate action.
Previous research has shown that taxing emissions related to assets is fairer than carbon taxes applied to the entire population, which tend to burden lower incomes. Schleussner noted, "This is not an academic debate; it is about the real impacts of the current climate crisis."
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.