2025-05-11 06:00
publication
2025-05-11 06:00
Ten percent of the richest people in the world are responsible for two -thirds of the value of global warming observed since 1990. Extreme weather events are largely the “merit” of the richest 1 percent.
The authors of the study published in Nature Climate Change shed new light on the connection between the level of income, greenhouse gas emissions and the so -called atmospheric injustice.
They determined that 10 percent The richest people in the world are responsible for two -thirds of global warming that has occurred since 1990.
They also noticed that only one percent of the richest inhabitants of Earth 26 times stronger than the average contributed to the increase in the frequency of the appearance of extreme temperatures and 17 times stronger – the frequency of Amazonian drought.
Emissions from the richest 10 percent People living in the United States and China led to a two- and three-time increase in extreme heat in particularly exposed regions.
Sensitive, tropical, emitting little CO2 areas such as Amazonia, the south of Asia and Africa.
“Our study shows that the extreme effects of climate change are not just an abstract effect of global emissions – we can directly connect them with our lifestyle and investment decisions, which in turn are related to wealth. emissions ” – emphasizes the main author of the publication, Sarah Schöngart from the Federal University of Technology in Zurich.
“If everyone emitted as much as the poorest 50 percent of the world population, only minimal warming would occur from 1990. Taking this inequality is crucial for a fair and effective climate policy,” adds Carl-Friedrich Schleussner.
The study, in addition to the importance of consumption, also shows the importance of emissions related to financial investments. Scientists argue that focusing on financial flows and investment portfolios of high -income people can also bring significant benefits to the climate.
“This is not an academic discussion – it is about the real effects of the climate crisis that we feel today” – alerts prof. Schleussner. – “Actions for climate that do not take into account the excessive responsibility of the richest members of society means the risk of skipping one of the most effective tools we have to limit future damage.”
According to researchers, their findings may become an impulse to introduce progressive political instruments directed towards the social elites. They note that such activities may also conducive to social acceptance for climate policy. Making the richest incur the costs of their actions can also help to provide urgently needed support for adaptation to new realities and compensation for losses and damage in the most vulnerable countries.
Experts sum up that adapting responsibility for climate activities to the actual contribution to emissions is crucial not only for the slowdown of global warming, but also for the construction of a more fair and resistant world.
Marek Matacz (PAP)
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