Revealed: The massive environmental impact of the richest 10% worldwide

Ignoring effect of the middle classes could make ending the climate crisis impossible, writes Damian Carrington

- Damian Carrington

The richest 10% in many countries cause up to 40 times more climate-carbon heating emissions than the poorest 10%, according to data obtained by the Guardian.

Failing to account for this huge divide when making policies to cut emissions can cause a backlash over the affordability of climate action, experts say.

The world's richest 10% encompasses most of the middle classes in developed countries - anyone paid more than about $40,000 (£32,000) a year. The lavish lifestyles of the very rich - the 1% - attract attention. But the 10% are responsible for half of all global emissions, making them key to ending the climate crisis.

The Cop28 UN climate summit begins on 30 November and the window to salvage a livable future for humanity is rapidly closing.

When climate talks began in the 1990s, most of the inequality in people's carbon emissions was between rich and poor nations. Three decades on, the situation has reversed. Now, most of the inequality in emissions between the rich and poor exists within individual countries.

This shift has huge implications for how the climate crisis can be ended, researchers say, although international support for the poorest and least polluting nations remains vital.

Data from the International Energy Agency details the energy-related CO₂ emissions per person in 2021 in a dozen major countries, plus the 27-nation EU. In the US, UK, EU and Japan, the richest 10% have carbon footprints about 15 times greater than the poorest 10%. In China, South Africa, Brazil and India, the top 10% cause between 30 and 40 times more emissions than the bottom 10%.

In all cases, the emissions of the top 10% are as high as those of at least the bottom 50%. In the US and China the situation is even less equal: the emissions of the top 10% are higher than the bottom 70% combined.