The world’s wealthiest 10 percent are responsible for two-thirds of global warming since 1990, according to a new report.
A study conducted by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), in Austria, assessed the contribution of the highest emitting groups within societies and found that the top 1 percent of the wealthiest individuals globally contributed 26 times the global average to heat extremes.
Study lead author Sarah Schöngart said the research illustrated how the consumption and investments of wealthy individuals had disproportionate impacts on extreme weather events.
“These impacts are especially severe in vulnerable tropical regions like the Amazon, Southeast Asia, and southern Africa – all areas that have historically contributed the least to global emissions,” Ms Schöngart said.
Study co-author Carl-Friedrich Schleussner said using a novel modelling framework that combined economic data and climate simulations, the researchers were able to trace emissions from different global income groups and assess their contributions to specific climate extremes.
Dr Schleussner said they found that emissions from the wealthiest 10 percent of individuals in the United States and China alone, led to a two-to threefold increase in heat extremes across vulnerable regions.
“If everyone had emitted like the bottom 50 percent of the global population, the world would have seen minimal additional warming since 1990.”
He said study emphasised the importance of emissions embedded in financial investments, rather than just personal consumption.
“Climate action that doesn’t address the outsize responsibilities of the wealthiest members of society, risks missing one of the most powerful levers we have to reduce future harm.”
Dr Schleussner said the findings could motivate progressive policy instruments targeted at societal elites, noting that such policies could also foster social acceptance of climate action.
“Making rich individual polluters pay can also help to provide much needed support for adaptation and loss and damage in vulnerable countries.”
Read the full study: High-income groups disproportionately contribute to climate extremes worldwide.
