The Chancel report from 2022 found that the bottom 50% of the world population emitted 12% of global emissions in 2019, whereas the top 10% emitted 48% of the total.
We know there’s a difference between countries but it’s also important to think about the difference in wealth. With the Top 1% emitted nearly 10x as much as an average UK citizen, surely we should find a way to draw more attention to this or find a way of making use of carbon more equitable.
What do people think here? Should it be carbon taxation? And what should we do in the meantime to influence change?
The top 1% of emitters globally each emit an average 101 tCO2e per year, while the bottom 50% emit just 1.4 tCO2 each. Source: Chancel (2022) (Credit: BBC)