It is through their way of consuming and investing that the world's most affluent have significantly increased the risk of deadly heatwaves and droughts in recent decades.
We can directly link the carbon footprint of the richest individuals to the actual climate impact on Earth, says the study's lead author Sarah Schöngart, at ETH Zurich University.
Compared to the global average, for example, the richest one percent in the world contributed 26 times more to the risk of a once-in-a-century heatwave and 17 times more to drought in the Amazon.
The study emphasizes that a large part of the emissions from the world's richest come from their various investments, rather than just their lifestyle and consumption.
One way to hold capitalists accountable for their climate impact is through wealth taxation and investments in high-carbon-emission activities, suggests one of the study's authors.
Previous proposals and agreements on taxing climate emissions have been slowed down, not least since Donald Trump took office for his second term as president.
