A new Greenpeace Africa report reveals that the investments and lifestyles of the world’s ultra-wealthy are responsible for climate damages worth nearly US$1 trillion annually, reigniting calls for stronger taxation of billionaires and major polluters to finance global climate action.
The world’s richest 0.01% are associated with an estimated US$992 billion in annual climate debt through their ownership of and investments in high-emitting activities, according to a new report released by Greenpeace Africa. The findings shed light on the outsized role of extreme wealth in driving the climate crisis and underline the need for governments to adopt fairer climate finance mechanisms.
The report, titled Understanding the Climate Debt of Extreme Wealth, argues that current climate policies focus too heavily on emissions from production and consumption while largely ignoring emissions linked to capital ownership and carbon-intensive investment portfolios held by ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
According to the study, ownership-based emissions generated by investments account for a significantly larger climate impact than personal consumption alone. In 2022, the world’s richest 0.01% accumulated an estimated climate debt of US$992 billion through their investments, compared with US$405 billion linked to their personal consumption patterns.
“The climate impact of extreme wealth is far greater than previously understood,” said Clara Thompson, Climate and Tax Justice Lead Campaigner at Greenpeace International. “Governments often ask ordinary people to bear the burden of climate action while paying far less attention to those with the greatest climate debt and ability to cover the costs of climate breakdown.”
The report estimates that an average member of the global top 0.01% wealth group generated ownership-based climate debt worth approximately US$1.24 million in 2022. This figure is more than twice their estimated consumption-based climate debt of US$506,783.
Researchers found that the average individual in the top 0.01% wealth bracket is associated with more than 130 times the ownership-based climate debt of the average person in the global top 10% wealth group.
The study also highlights the concentration of climate responsibility among a small group of wealthy individuals and countries. It estimates that the richest 1% accounted for around 41% of all ownership-based emissions globally in 2022, compared with 16.5% of consumption-based emissions attributed to the top 1% income earners.
Meanwhile, many countries facing the most severe climate impacts contribute only a small share of global wealth and bear limited responsibility for the emissions driving climate change.
As climate-related disasters such as floods, droughts and extreme weather events become increasingly frequent and severe, the report warns that the gap between climate finance needs and available funding continues to widen. Developing countries alone are estimated to require at least US$1 trillion annually to address climate adaptation, mitigation and loss-and-damage challenges.
Greenpeace argues that taxing the climate damages associated with the ownership-based emissions of the world’s richest 0.01% could generate substantial resources to help bridge this funding gap.
“Taxing billionaires for the real costs of their polluting investments and lifestyles is not radical,” said Koaile Monaheng, Fair Share Global Political Lead at Greenpeace Africa. “It is a fair and necessary step toward funding climate action, addressing ecosystem degradation and advancing climate justice for communities already paying the price for a crisis they did not cause.”
The environmental organization is urging governments to strengthen the application of the polluter-pays principle in both climate and fiscal policies. It also calls for ambitious commitments under the ongoing United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (UNFCITC), including legally binding rules on taxing rights, financial transparency and measures to curb tax abuse by wealthy individuals and multinational corporations.
As negotiations continue under both the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and international tax governance processes, Greenpeace maintains that climate and tax reforms must work hand in hand to mobilize the resources needed for sustainable development and a just global transition to a low-carbon future.
The report concludes that addressing extreme wealth concentration is becoming an increasingly important component of global climate policy, particularly as governments search for innovative and equitable ways to finance climate action in vulnerable developing countries.
Boris NGOUNOU
