Nairobi, Kenya / Bonn, Germany – A very small group of ultra-wealthy individuals is associated with disproportionate climate harm, driven alarmingly by their ownership of and investments in high-emitting activities alongside their carbon-intensive lifestyles, a Greenpeace Africa report revealed today.
In 2022, the investments of the world's richest 0.01% were associated with an estimated US$992 billion in what the report describes as climate debt – the monetised climate damages associated with emissions exceeding an equitable share of the remaining carbon budget consistent with a 1.5°C pathway. By comparison, the report estimates the consumption-based climate debt of the world's richest 0.01% at US$405 billion in 2022.[1]
Clara Thompson, climate and tax justice lead campaigner at Greenpeace International, said: "We are learning that the climate impact of extreme wealth is far greater than previously understood. Yet governments often urge ordinary people to carry the burden of climate action while paying far less attention to those with the greatest climate debt and ability to cover the costs of climate breakdown: wealthy investors and major polluters. Something is fundamentally out of balance."
The report Understanding the Climate Debt of Extreme Wealth highlights how the climate crisis is increasingly also a crisis of extreme wealth concentration. The report argues that current climate policy frameworks focus primarily on production and consumption-based emissions, while largely overlooking emissions linked to capital ownership and carbon-intensive investment portfolios of the ultra-wealthy.[2]
Key findings from the report:
- The study estimates the average member of the global top 0.01% wealth group is associated with more than 130 times the ownership-based climate debt of the average member of the global top 10% wealth group.
- For an average member in the global top 0.01%, the estimated ownership-based climate debt in 2022 was US$1.24 million – more than twice as large as consumption-based climate debt, estimated at US$506,783, highlighting the importance of looking beyond consumption (e.g. polluting private jets) alone when assessing climate responsibility.
- The study estimates that, in 2022, the richest 1% accounted for approximately 41% of all ownership-based emissions, compared to 16.5% of consumption-based emissions attributed to the top 1% income group.
- Wealth and ownership-based climate responsibility are concentrated in a relatively small number of countries, while many of the countries facing the greatest climate vulnerability and climate finance needs account for only a small share of global wealth.
As climate impacts such as damages from extreme weather, floods and droughts intensify globally, the gap between climate finance needs and its delivery continues to widen. The report suggests that taxing the climate damages associated with the ownership-based emissions of the world's richest 0.01% alone could contribute significantly to climate finance needs in developing countries which are estimated to be at least $1 trillion annually.[3]
Koaile Monaheng, Fair Share Global Political Lead at Greenpeace Africa, said: "Taxing billionaires for the real costs of their polluting investments and lifestyles is not radical, it is a fair and necessary step toward funding climate action, addressing degradation of ecosystems and advancing climate justice for communities already paying the price for a crisis they did not cause. Without urgent action, the ultra-wealthy will continue to pollute and profit from the destruction and exploitation while the world is burning."
Greenpeace International is calling on governments to integrate the polluter-pays principle into climate and fiscal policy frameworks and to commit under the UN Tax Convention (UNFCITC) to effective taxation of ultra-high-net-worth individuals and major corporate polluters, including through legally binding rules on taxing rights, transparency and measures to combat tax abuse.
As climate finance needs continue to grow, discussions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Tax Convention should increasingly be seen as complementary processes to help mobilise the resources needed for climate action and sustainable development.
