The world's rich are responsible for emitting huge amounts of carbon emissions

Weather of Arabia - The richest 1% of the world’s population is responsible for emitting an amount of carbon emissions similar to what is caused by about two-thirds of the world’s population

A study conducted by researchers from the international non-profit organization Oxfam showed, in a recent report, that the richest half of the world’s population, that is, the 1%, which represents only about 77 million people, contributes approximately the same proportion of carbon emissions as about two-thirds of the world’s population.

This report comes within the framework of the ongoing political debate between the governments of major countries on the issue of bearing the costs to reach the goal of stabilizing the rise in average temperatures on Earth to within 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to the period before the industrial revolution.

Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are causing the planet's average temperatures to rise, and these gases are part of global warming. These gases prevent the Earth from absorbing solar radiation and radiate it back into space, increasing heat within the atmosphere.

The world's rich are responsible for emitting huge amounts of carbon emissions

A research report issued by the international non-profit organization Oxfam, entitled “Climate Equality”, confirmed that the global elite, which represents only 1% of the world’s population, estimated at 77 million people, contributes a similar percentage of carbon emissions to two-thirds of the entire world’s population. .

In the context of the ongoing political debate over the fiscal tolerance to achieve the goal of holding average temperatures to 1.5°C, this report shows that the global elite generates enough carbon dioxide emissions to cause an additional 1.3 million deaths due to global warming, roughly equivalent to the population of Medium city. Most of these deaths are expected to occur between 2020 and 2030.

A press release issued by the Foundation confirmed that “the wealthy who live in luxury are plundering the planet and polluting it to the point of destruction,” and the report believes that solving the problem of climate change cannot be achieved without achieving a greater balance between economic classes and ending the era of extreme wealth. The report points out the clear gap between the carbon footprint of the wealthy and that of ordinary individuals around the world, as it shows their carbon-rich lifestyle and their investments in polluting industries, which mainly contribute to the escalation of global warming.

In the context of understanding the size of this gap, the report shows that the average person, who belongs to the remaining 99% of the world’s population, would need 1,500 years to produce the same amount of carbon emissions as the elite remaining 1% in just one year!

According to the report, the positive climate impact of emissions released by the richest 1% of the world's population every year, which is equivalent to the effect of a million wind turbines, is negated!

The Foundation suggests that the solution to this catastrophe lies in imposing a 60% tax on the income of the richest 1%, a measure that may contribute to reducing emissions to reasonable levels, and in collecting an amount of up to 6.4 trillion dollars annually to finance the transition from dependence on fossil fuels to using energy systems. Renewable energy.

The main harmful impact of climate change is greatly affected by developing countries that depend on agriculture and fishing as the basis of their lifestyle. Typically found in tropical latitudes, these communities are exposed to an increased frequency of heatwaves and frequent droughts and floods, which greatly threatens their ability to survive.

These countries are often located in politically fragile regions and face resource shortages due to climate change, which increases their political fragility and enhances the possibility of internal conflicts or wars between neighboring countries as a result of competition over scarce resources.

In this scenario, the populations of these countries have little impact on climate warming compared to the populations of developed countries who contribute significantly to this warming. In addition, populations in these developed countries have the ability to adapt to climate change by modifying their lifestyles and infrastructure technologies.

The gap in economic and social impact between the world's population is widening, and social scientists point out that this growing inequality may lead to unavoidable environmental and climate disasters, the effects of which no one will be able to counteract. In this context, some researchers believe that climate change could exacerbate social and political tensions in the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer.

Source: aljazeera