”The climate crisis sets a ceiling for our consumption, and the rich break through the ceiling several times", says Astrid Nilsson Lewis, expert in climate inequality at Oxfam Sweden, in a press release.
According to her, it would take 30 years for an average earner in Sweden to emit as much as an ultra-rich person does in just one year.
The report, among other things, points out that emissions from the richest one percent in Sweden have increased by 24 percent since 1990 – while the corresponding figure for the richest 0.1 percent is 44 percent. For the 50 percent with the lowest income, however, emissions have decreased by 31 percent.
The report also shows that the richest 0.1 percent of the population annually emits an average of 198 tons of carbon dioxide per person – which is 45 times more than a person from the 50 percent who have the lowest income.
According to Oxfam, emissions for the richest one percent and 0.1 percent must decrease by 96 and 99 percent, respectively, to be in line with the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees.
Corrected: In an earlier version, an incorrect figure regarding emissions from the very richest appeared.
