Climate Plunder: How a powerful few are locking the world into disaster
Publication date
2025-10-29Keywords
Economic inequalityClimate justice
COP30
Taxation
Climate crisis
Climate change
Climate inequality
Carbon inequality
Country
BoliviaBrazil
Burkina Faso
Canada
France
Greenland
Jamaica
Mexico
Nicaragua
PalauSouth AfricaSwedenUnited KingdomUnited States
Metadata
Show full item recordPublisher(s)
Oxfam InternationalDocument type
Briefing paperDescription
Ahead of the major international climate conference COP30 in Belem, Brazil, new Oxfam research finds that the high-carbon lifestyles of the super-rich are blowing through the world’s remaining carbon budget - the amount of CO2 that can be emitted while avoiding climate disaster. The research also details how billionaires are using their political and economic influence to keep humanity hooked on fossil fuels to maximize their private profit.
The report, Climate Plunder: How a powerful few are locking the world into disaster, presents extensive new updated data and analysis which finds that a person from the richest 0.1% produces more carbon pollution in a day than the poorest 50% emit all year. If everyone emitted like the richest 0.1%, the carbon budget would be used up in less than 3 weeks.