The richest 1% of the world’s population emits twice as many greenhouse gases as the poorest half of the planet, says an Oxfam report, which calls for “social and climate justice” in post-pandemic stimulus packages.
The NGO looked at the 1990-2015 period, 25 years during which global CO2 emissions, responsible for warming a planet where the average temperature has risen by 1 ° C since the pre-industrial era, have increased by almost 60%.
According to Oxfam’s analysis, “the richest 1% of the population (almost 63 million people) was responsible for 15% of the accumulated emissions, that is, double compared to the poorest half of the world population”.
And the richest 10% of the world population (630 million people) were responsible for 52% of the accumulated CO2 emissions.
“In the last 20 to 30 years, the climate crisis has worsened and the limited global carbon budget has been dilapidated to intensify the consumption of a wealthy population, not to lift people out of poverty,” says Oxfam.
And the groups that “suffer the most from this injustice are the least responsible for the climate crisis”: the poorest and future generations ”, continues the NGO, which calls on governments around the world to rectify the situation and bring justice and the fight against climate change at the heart of economic recovery plans after the new coronavirus pandemic.
“It is clear that the very unequal and carbon-emitting economic growth model of the past 20 to 30 years has not benefited the poorest half of humanity,” Tim Gore, an NGO expert, told AFP.
“It is a fallacious dichotomy to suggest that we have to choose between economic growth and the climate,” he added.
“The covid-19 pandemic inevitably brought to light the need to rebuild better and put the world economy on a fairer, more sustainable and more resilient path,” said former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the report.
“The collective commitment must have as a priority to reduce CO2 emissions in the richest part of society, which contaminates disproportionately”, he adds.
