Richest 1% have used up their fair share of 2025 carbon budget in 10 days

The world's richest 1 per cent have used up their share of the global carbon budget for the year in just 10 days into 2025.

A new Oxfam analysis reveals that the consumption habit of the affluent class has on an average caused 2.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in less than a week and a half. In contrast, it takes those in the world’s poorest 50 per cent nearly three years to produce an equal amount of carbon emission.

The United Nations Environment Programme's global carbon budget estimated that 2.1 tonnes per year is the full individual quota a person can emit by 2030 before the 1.5°C of global warming is breached, according to a report by Climate Change News.

'Pollutocrat Day' as Oxfam is calling it comes at a time when Los Angeles is reeling under the ill effects of climate change.

Oxfam International’s Climate Change Policy Lead, Nafkote Dabi, said, “The future of our planet is hanging by a thread.”

“The margin for action is razor-thin, yet the super-rich continue to squander humanity’s chances with their lavish lifestyles, polluting stock portfolios and pernicious political influence. This is theft —pure and simple― a tiny few robbing billions of people of their future to feed their insatiable greed,” he added.

Oxfam established that with the global population set to reach 8.5 billion in 2030, without breaching the 1.5 C of warming, the 'fair share' an individual can emit is 2.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

However, the richest 1 per cent are plowing through around 76 tonnes of CO2 each year. In order to meet the 1.5°C goal, Oxfam found that the richest 1 per cent needs to cut their emissions by 97 per cent by 2030. The rich comprise of 77 million individuals - including billionaires, millionaires, and those earning over $140,000 per year in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, which aligns different currencies.

The brunt of climate change is however felt by the poorest people, especially in the tropical regions, who have the least amount of resources to mitigate the disastrous results of sudden climatic change. While the wealthiest 1 per cent live climate-insulated, air-conditioned lives mostly in the global north, according to a report by The Guardian

“Governments need to stop pandering to the richest. Rich polluters must be made to pay for the havoc they’re wreaking on our planet,” said Dabi.

“Tax them, curb their emissions, and ban their excessive indulgences —private jets, superyachts, and the like. Leaders who fail to act are effectively choosing complicity in a crisis that threatens the lives of billions.”

Permanent income and wealth taxes on the richest 1 per cent, along with a ban or punitively tax carbon-intensive luxury consumptions—starting with private jets and superyachts—are measures Oxfam is now urging governments to introduce.