A new study published in Nature Climate Change demonstrates that the richest individuals disproportionately contribute to climate extremes.
The analysis shows that only 10% of the global population accounts for the majority of emissions, leading to heatwaves, droughts, and other extreme events that impact millions of lives worldwide.
What Happened: Researchers examined emissions from consumption and investments between 1990 and 2020 within an emulator-based framework.
They discovered that the wealthiest 10% of the world's population are responsible for two-thirds of global warming, while the top 1% alone contributed one-fifth, which is 6.5 and 20 times the average per capita emissions, respectively.
In case of extreme weather events, the top 10% were behind 7 times the average contribution to increases in 1-in-100-year monthly heat extremes, while the top 1% contributed 26 times more.
When it comes to Amazon droughts, their contributions were 6 times and 17 times the average, respectively. Emissions from the richest 10% in the U.S. and China led to a two-to-threefold increase in heat extremes across already at-risk areas.
Why It Matters: Authors of the study note that extreme weather linked to climate change has led to an average of $143 billion in annual damages over the past twenty years.
In 2019, the wealthiest 10% of the global population drove almost half of all emissions from consumption and investments, while the poorest 50% were responsible for just one-tenth.
"At the same time, regions with low historic emissions and income levels are typically more frequently and severely exposed to climate impacts and have limited resources for adaptation," they add.
The study comes on the heels of a recent statement from Bill Gates, who said rich countries "owe it to the world" to get themselves down to net-zero emissions.
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