Europe’s Elite Emit More Carbon in a Week than Someone from the Bottom Half Does in a Year

• A person from Europe’s richest 0.1% emits 53x more carbon than a person from the bottom 50%.
   
• Since 1990, Europe’s richest 0.1% have increased their share of total emissions by 14%, while the bottom half have cut their share by 27%.
   
• To stay within the 1.5°C limit, the richest 0.1% of Europeans would need to cut their per capita emissions by 99% by 2030. 

Europe’s wealthiest are driving the bloc’s emissions while ordinary Europeans make the steepest cuts, according to new Oxfam research published ahead of COP30. This research also comes amidst the EU watering down its own climate ambition. 

The report, “Climate Plunder: How a powerful few Europeans are locking the world into a climate disaster”, reveals that a person from Europe’s richest 0.1% produces as much carbon in a week than someone from the bottom 50% of Europeans does in a year. The same group of Europeans - approximately 450,000 people, equivalent to the population of Estonia’s capital, Tallinn - emit 53 times more carbon than someone from Europe’s bottom half. 

Most Europeans belong to the richest 10% globally, a group responsible for around half of the world’s emissions. At a global level, if everyone emitted like the richest 0.1%, the world’s remaining carbon budget - the amount of carbon that can be emitted while avoiding climate breakdown - would be used up in less than 3 weeks.

At the same time, the carbon emissions of Europe’s wealthiest are on the rise. Between 1990 and 2022, EU emissions fell by about 21%, almost entirely due to cuts by the majority of Europeans. The bottom half of Europeans reduced their emissions by 27% and the middle 40% by 23%. Meanwhile, the richest 0.1% increased theirs by 14%.

“The research is clear. Europe’s wealthiest are in the driving seat of this climate crisis, while the rest carry the cost. Yet, instead of standing firm on its climate commitments, the EU is bending towards short-term business interests under the banner of competitiveness. Real innovation should accelerate climate action, not serve as an excuse to delay it”, said Julie Bos, Oxfam EU climate expert.

The super-rich are not only overconsuming carbon but are also investing in and profiting from the most polluting corporations. The average European billionaire’s investments generate 2.4 million tonnes of carbon a year, equivalent to flying around the world 12,000 times in a private jet.

Globally, almost 60% of billionaire investments are classified as being in high climate impact sectors such as oil or mining, meaning their investments emit two and a half times more than an average investment in the S&P Global 1,200. The emissions of the investment portfolios of just 308 billionaires totals more than the combined emissions of 118 countries.

The research shows that to align with EU’s Paris Agreement pledge of 1.5°C, a person from the EU’s bottom 50% would need to half their emissions. A person from the top 10% would need to cut by 90%, and from the top 0.1% by 99%.

This comes as the EU delays and dilutes its climate plans and environmental legislation.

“The EU needs to look beyond the next election cycle and think for the long-term. The data is there and points to the need for scaling up emission cuts, starting with those who can most afford it and who are spending it frivolously. Measures such as a tax on excessive carbon emissions – like superyachts and private jets – is a logical first step.” said Bos.