The world's 50 richest billionaires emit more CO2 on average in 90 minutes than the average person does in a lifetime. This is stated by the development organization Oxfam in a new climate inequality report.
The report describes how the world's richest people have large climate emissions through their consumption of private planes and luxury yachts in particular. The luxury consumption of the super-rich and its emissions is "a direct threat to the planet", believes Lars Koch, who is the secretary general of Oxfam Denmark.
- The super-rich have a very large responsibility for the climate catastrophe. It is a small group of people, but they have some extremely large emissions. Their consumption is in no way sustainable, says Lars Koch.
According to the report, 50 of the world's richest people have flown an average of 184 times in a single year and spent 425 hours in the air. In air transport alone, the world's richest one percent are responsible for half of the CO2 emissions from the aviation industry, the report states.
The climate inequality report focuses on the world's richest, but the ordinary person is also part of the solution to reducing CO2 emissions, states the Secretary-General.
- The average Dane also has CO2 emissions that are not sustainable. So there is a need for us all to do something.
Lars Koch believes that "it is possible to argue that if you are very rich, you are also very important".
- But a first step must be that you have to pay for the pollution you cause, he says.
Private aircraft are a major climate culprit
In Denmark, an aviation tax will be introduced, which will be phased in from next year. However, travel by private aircraft is not covered by the upcoming model for aviation taxes.
In November last year, the Unity Party proposed that a take-off tax should be introduced on private aircraft departing from Danish airports. Oxfam shares the same desire for taxes on private aircraft.
From a Danish perspective, Danish-owned private aircraft emit almost 17 times more per passenger than regular scheduled aircraft, according to a calculation carried out for DR earlier in October. The main reason for the difference in CO2 emissions is the number of empty seats on departures.
According to DR's calculation, 82 percent of the seats are occupied on average on a classic scheduled aircraft departing from a Danish airport. Conversely, 25 percent of the seats are occupied when a Danish-owned private aircraft takes off from Denmark.
/ritzau/
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