A new study has found that the wealthiest 10% of people globally are responsible for two-thirds of the observed global warming since 1990, underscoring the urgent need for targeted climate policies.
In a striking new study published in Nature Climate Change, researchers have quantified the climate impact of income inequality, revealing that the world’s wealthiest 10% are responsible for two-thirds of global warming since 1990. This development spotlights the disproportionately large carbon footprint of affluent individuals and their contributions to extreme climate events, such as heatwaves and droughts.
Using an innovative modeling framework, the researchers combined economic data with climate simulations to trace emissions across different global income groups.
The findings? The top 1% of the wealthiest individuals globally have contributed 26 times the global average to monthly 1-in-100-year heat extremes and 17 times more to Amazon droughts.
“Our study shows that extreme climate impacts are not just the result of abstract global emissions, instead we can directly link them to our lifestyle and investment choices, which in turn are linked to wealth,” lead author Sarah Schöngart, an alumna of the 2024 Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) and currently associated with ETH Zurich, said in a news release. “We found that wealthy emitters play a major role in driving climate extremes, which provides strong support for climate policies that target the reduction of their emissions.”
The study underscores the significant disparity in emissions contributions between different income groups. Emissions from the wealthiest 10% in the United States and China alone have led to a two- to threefold increase in heat extremes in vulnerable regions.
This drastically contrasts with the bottom 50% of the global population, whose emissions would have resulted in minimal additional warming since 1990.
“If everyone had emitted like the bottom 50% of the global population, the world would have seen minimal additional warming since 1990,” added co-author Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, who leads the Integrated Climate Impacts Research Group at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). “Addressing this imbalance is crucial for fair and effective climate action.”
The study also points to the importance of addressing emissions embedded in financial investments, not just personal consumption. The researchers advocate for financial policies that target high-income individuals’ portfolios as a strategy for achieving substantial climate benefits.
“This is not an academic discussion – it’s about the real impacts of the climate crisis today,” Schleussner added. “Climate action that doesn’t address the outsize responsibilities of the wealthiest members of society, risks missing one of the most powerful levers we have to reduce future harm.”
The implications of this research are broad and significant. By highlighting the direct link between wealth and climate impacts, the study supports progressive policy instruments aimed at societal elites. Such policies not only reassign responsibility in line with actual emissions contributions but can also foster greater societal acceptance of climate action, thereby helping to provide much-needed support for adaptation in vulnerable countries.
The study emerged from work done during Schöngart’s YSSP project in 2024, for which she received the IIASA Levien award.
The authors hope that their findings will fuel discussions and inspire policy changes aimed at reducing the disproportionate climate impact of the wealthiest, thus driving a more just and resilient response to our global climate crisis.
Source: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)