Oxfam: Billionaires generate more carbon emissions 0:58
(CNN) --
A billionaire emits a million times more greenhouse gases than the average person, a new study has found.
The report, published on Monday by the British charity Oxfam, is based on a detailed analysis of the investments of 125 of the world's richest billionaires.
The United States and China are the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world.
But who is worse?
The report finds that, unlike the average population, the investments of the wealthiest people account for up to 70% of their emissions.
According to the report, the investments of these billionaires produce an annual average of 3 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per person, which is one million times more than the average of 2.76 tons of CO2 of those who live in the bottom 90%.
Nafkote Dabi, head of climate change at Oxfam, said that the emissions from the lifestyle of billionaires, their private jets and their yachts are already thousands of times higher than those of the average citizen.
But if we consider those of their investments, their carbon emissions are more than a million times higher.
"The set of these few billionaires have 'investment emissions' that are equivalent to the carbon footprints of entire countries such as France, Egypt or Argentina."
advertising
"The large and growing responsibility of millionaires for global emissions is rarely discussed or taken into account in climate policy making. This has to change."
"These billionaire investors at the top of the corporate pyramid bear a huge responsibility for the deteriorating climate. They have not been held accountable for too long," he said.
The study also revealed that billionaires had an average of 14% of their investments in polluting industries such as energy and materials such as cement.
Only one billionaire in the sample had investments in a renewable energy company.
"We need COP27 to shine a light on and change the role of big business and its millionaire investors in profiting from the pollution that is causing the global climate crisis," Dabi said.
Emissions of greenhouse gases