Richest 1% burn through their entire annual carbon limit in just 10 days
The richest 1 percent have burned through their share of the annual global carbon budget —the amount of CO2 that can be added to the atmosphere without pushing the world beyond 1.5°C of warming— within the first 10 days of 2025, reveals new Oxfam analysis.
In stark contrast, it would take someone from the poorest half of the global population nearly three years (1022 days) to use up their share of the annual global carbon budget.
This alarming milestone, dubbed “Pollutocrat Day” by Oxfam, underscores how climate breakdown is disproportionately driven by the super-rich, whose emissions far exceed those of ordinary people. The richest 1 percent are responsible for more than twice as much carbon pollution than the poorest half of humanity, with devastating consequences for vulnerable communities and efforts to tackle the climate emergency. To meet the 1.5°C goal, the richest 1 percent need to cut their emissions by 97 percent by 2030.
“The future of our planet is hanging by a thread. The margin for action is razor-thin, yet the super-rich continue to squander humanity’s chances with their lavish lifestyles, polluting stock portfolios and pernicious political influence. This is theft —pure and simple― a tiny few robbing billions of people of their future to feed their insatiable greed,” said Oxfam International’s Climate Change Policy Lead, Nafkote Dabi.
Oxfam’s research shows that the emissions of the richest 1 percent since 1990 have caused ―and will continue to cause― trillions of dollars in economic damage, extensive crop losses, and millions of excess deaths.
- The economic damage suffered by low- and lower-middle-income countries over the past 30 years is about three times greater than the total climate finance provided by rich countries to poorer ones.
- By 2050, the emissions of the richest 1 percent will cause crop losses that could have provided enough calories to feed at least 10 million people a year in Eastern and Southern Asia.
- Roughly eight in every 10 excess deaths due to heat will occur in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Around 40 percent of these deaths will occur in Southern Asia.
“Governments need to stop pandering to the richest. Rich polluters must be made to pay for the havoc they’re wreaking on our planet. Tax them, curb their emissions, and ban their excessive indulgences —private jets, superyachts, and the like. Leaders who fail to act are effectively choosing complicity in a crisis that threatens the lives of billions,” said Dabi.
Oxfam calls on governments to:
- Reduce the emissions of the richest. Governments must introduce permanent income and wealth taxes on the top 1 percent, ban or punitively tax carbon-intensive luxury consumptions —starting with private jets and superyachts— and regulate corporations and investors to drastically and fairly reduce their emissions.
- Make rich polluters pay. Climate finance needs are growing rapidly, especially in Global South countries bearing the brunt of climate impacts. While rich countries agreed to mobilize $300 billion a year to help Global South countries cope with warming temperatures and switch to renewable energy, this amount falls drastically short from the $5 trillion climate the Global North owes in climate debt and reparations.
Notes to editors
According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report 2024, the median estimate of emissions level in 2030 consistent with limiting global heating to around 1.5°C is 24 GtCO2e (range: 20–26), which is equivalent to approximately 17.8 GtCO2 based on the 2019 share of CO2 emissions in greenhouse gas emissions (74.1 percent). According to the UN, the global population is projected to reach 8.5 billion in 2030. Dividing the 1.5°C compatible 2030 emissions level (17.8 GtCO2) equally by 8.5 billion gives an estimate of an annual carbon budget of 2.1t CO2 per person.
| Ton CO2 per capita per day | Ton CO2 per capita per day | Annual carbon budget, ton CO2 per capita | Days to use up share of annual carbon budget | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richest 1% | 76 | 0.209 | 2.1 | 10 |
| Poorest 50% | 0.7 | 0.002 | 2.1 | 1022 |
Oxfam’s research shows that the richest 1 percent —comprising 77 million individuals, including billionaires, millionaires, and those earning over $140,000 per year in PPP terms— were responsible for 15.9 percent of global CO2 emissions in 2019. The bottom 50 percent (3.9 billion people with an average annual income of $2,000 in PPP terms) accounted for 7.7 percent of all CO2 emissions during the same year. “Climate Equality: A Planet for the 99%” draws on research by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and assesses the consumption emissions of different income groups in 2019, the most recent year for which data are available.
Between 2015 and 2030, the richest 1 percent are set to reduce their per capita consumption emissions by just 5 percent, compared with the 97 percent cuts needed to align with the global per capita level compatible with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement.
The first-of-its-kind study, Oxfam’s “Carbon Inequality Kills,” tracks the emissions from private jets, yachts and polluting investments and details how the super-rich are fueling inequality, hunger and death across the world.
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