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Carbon Billionaires: If you are rich you pollute a million times more



  • Through their investments, the richest people on the planet emit an amount of carbon dioxide equal to the total carbon footprint of countries like France, Egypt or Argentina, according to a study by Oxfam Intermon.

  • Until Friday, diplomats from around the world are gathering at COP27 and discussing what measures will be adopted to significantly reduce emissions.

Amid protests by activists and calls to act to save the environment, he rose Climate crisis These weeks are being discussed at the 27th UN Climate Summit (COP27)Who meets this year in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh. Promises and high-profile meetings follow one another, and among so much negotiation, the fact that great leaders never quite confront them emerges: The negative impact of the biggest corporations and billionaires on the planet.

It was the great promise of the Sharm El-Sheikh summit Protect the most vulnerable countries climate chaos. So much promise, but so little action. Negotiations have stalled and the largest emitters in history continue to evade economic compensation for the Global South. Because as much as the responsibility for the climate crisis rests with humanity in general, it has a The main reason: the great millionaires. Whether due to the pace of their lives or the huge environmental impact of their investments, the wealthy generate far more carbon emissions than the average. specific, Even a million times more than a normal person.

This is evident from the report ‘Coal Billionaires: Emissions from Investments of the Richest People’, published by Oxfam Intermon on the occasion of the Climate Summit, which analyzes the investments of 125 major billionaires. The study concluded that each of these people generates an average of about three million tons of carbon dioxide, a number of emissions far higher than the average of 2.76 tons emitted by someone who belongs to the poorest 90% of the world’s population.

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The rise of the lifestyle of the wealthy, led by the massive consumption of fossil fuels by their private jets and yachtsalready indicates an impact hundreds of times greater than that of any person, but this number doubles if we analyze the emissions from their investments.

Those few billionaires are piling on investment emissions. equals the total carbon footprint of countries like France, Egypt or Argentina ” Oxfam Intermon’s Head of Climate Change, Nafkot Dabi, points out. For this reason, the organization points out that the richest people are the main ones responsible for accelerating the climate crisis and believes that this fact must be taken into account when governments propose environmental policies. “Over a long time evasion of responsibilities” Dabby adds.

What can governments and companies do?

If the planet wants to not exceed global warming The famous figure is 1.5 ° C Since pre-industrial times, agreed upon by the states in Paris agreement, should significantly reduce carbon emissions. To avoid reaching the point of no return, Oxfam Intermon is asking governments and companies to take three key actions:

  • imposed policies Big multinational corporations To control and report its emissions, and to set a series of progressive targets that gradually reduce them to ensure the future of the population, especially the countries most affected.

  • Raising taxes on the richestand the impact on polluting industries. It could mean a double benefit for humanity: on the one hand, millionaires would have less power, and in addition, the pool could be used to offset the regions hardest hit by the climate crisis, as well as help finance the industrial transition towards less polluting. energy.

  • Corporate action plans, in which you set global goals to combat climate change, with the ultimate goal of achieving them Carbon neutrality In the year 2050.

The effect of private jets

Although it does not affect the topic, the organization’s report also talks about another problem related to the lifestyle of millionaires and the excessive amount of their emissions. Nationality indicates Private jet flights As a controversial (and polluting) mode of transportation used by the rich. Football clubs or singers influencers They have been singled out in recent months as guilty of contributing negatively to climate change through their unnecessarily noisy travel routes.

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And it is that an hour in a private jet is equivalent to three months of emissions for an average European, which causes outrage among ordinary people. Twitter accounts like @employee They record the flights of celebrities on their planes, as well as the cost and the carbon emissions they produce

American singer Taylor Swift He heads the ranking, which also includes other celebrities such as the boxer Floyd Mayweather Jrfilm director Steven Spielberg Waved influencers Kim kardashian.

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