- The climate pollution of Australia’s top 0.1% is 23 times larger than the emissions from the entire population of Vanuatu
- The emissions of Australia's top 0.1% is equivalent to emissions of 2.5 million cars in a year
- Average Australian billionaire’s annual investment emissions equivalent to flying around the world 6757 times in a private jet
Ahead of the major international climate conference COP30 in Belem, Brazil, new Oxfam analysis finds that a person in Australia's richest 0.1% by income produces more carbon in a month than someone in the bottom 50% produces all year.
Data-crunching also uncovers that the climate pollution of Australia’s top 0.1%, numbering only 23,000 people, is 23 times larger than the emissions from the entire population of Vanuatu.
New report, Climate Plunder: How a powerful few are locking the world into disaster, presents extensive new updated data and analysis which finds that globally, a person from the richest 0.1% produces more carbon pollution in a day than the poorest 50% emit all year. If everyone emitted like the richest 0.1%, the global carbon budget for keeping global heating to 1.5 degrees would be used up in less than 3 weeks.
The super-rich are not just overconsuming climate pollution, but also actively investing in and profiting from the most polluting corporations. Oxfam’s research finds that globally, the average billionaire produces 1.9 million tonnes of CO2e a year through their investments. In Australia, an average billionaire’s annual investment emissions equivalent to flying around the world 6757 times in a private jet.
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 climate crisis is an inequality crisis. The very richest individuals in the world are funding and profiting from climate destruction, leaving the global majority to bear the fatal consequences of their unchecked power,” said Dr. Chrisanta Muli, Oxfam Australia Acting Chief Executive.
The emissions of the richest 1% are enough to cause an estimated 1.3 million heat-related deaths by the end of the century, as well as $67 trillion of economic damage to low- and lower-middle-income countries by 2050. The impacts of these climate damages will disproportionately impact those who have done the least to cause the climate crisis, particularly people living in the Global South, women, girls and Indigenous groups.
COP30 marks ten years since the Paris Agreement in 2015, and during this period, the world’s richest 1% have burnt through more than twice as much of the carbon budget than the poorest half of humanity combined.
“Those most responsible for the climate crisis must be held accountable. As world leaders gather at COP30, they must confront the uncomfortable truth — the wealthiest few are driving climate breakdown while millions bear the cost. The Australian Government has a responsibility to show leadership by making big polluters and the super-rich pay their fair share, so that communities on the frontlines here at home and across the region can survive and thrive,” said Dr. Muli.
Ahead of COP30, Oxfam Australia calls on the Australian government to cut the emissions and dismantle the political and economic power of the super-rich through:
- Slash the emissions of the super-rich and make the richest polluters pay, by introducing a tax on extreme wealth, a Climate Pollution Levy on coal, oil and gas corporations, and supporting the UN Convention on International Tax Cooperation. A 60% tax on the total incomes of the richest 1% globally could cut carbon emissions equivalent to the total emissions of the UK and generate in the region of $6.4 trillion. A 5% tax just on the wealth of Australian billionaires could raise $33.5 billion per year.
- Curb the economic and political influence of the richest by banning fossil fuel corporations from climate negotiations such as COP, reforming political donations in Australia, and ending the revolving door between politics and the executive of big corporations
- Strengthen the participation of civil society and Indigenous groups in climate negotiations and address the unequal impacts of climate change.
- Adopt a fair-share approach to the remaining climate budget. As a wealthy country with high levels of climate pollution, Australia should reduce its climate pollution by at least 75% by 2035 and commit to a new climate finance goal for developing countries of $11 billion 2025-30.
- Build an equal economic system that puts people and planet first by moving towards an economy based on sustainability and equality.
For interviews, contact Lucy Brown on [email protected] / 0478 190 099
Notes to editors
Download Climate Plunder: How a powerful few are locking the world into disaster and the methodology note. The report will also be available in Portuguese, Spanish and French.
Download the executive summary (also available in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic).
Visit the Stockholm Environment Institute’s Emissions Inequality Dashboard for the latest emissions data by income group for over 190 countries.
Where applicable, dollar figures are expressed in AUD, converted from USD at a rate of $1 Australian dollar to 66 US cents.
Data on income groups is derived from the World Inequality Database (WID). People in the top 0.1% of incomes are earning on average around $1 million per annum. People in the bottom 50% of incomes are earning on average around $18,000 per annum.
Population figures for Vanuatu were sourced from Our World in Data. According to latest estimates, Vanuatu’s population is 320,422.
Car emissions were calculated based on the average distance travelled by all vehicles recorded by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the average emissions intensity for all vehicles as recorded by the National Transport Commission.
Australian billionaire investment emissions are based on seven billionaires for which data was available; Scott Farquhar, Richard White, Mike Cannon-Brookes, Kerry Stokes, Gina Rinehart, Anthony Pratt and Andrew Forrest. More details on sources and methodology in our Climate Plunder Methodology Note (Link TBC).
Australian Billionaires wealth tax calculation sourced from Oxfam Report “The Elephant in the Room: Australia’s failure to tax wealth’.