Tiny Fraction of Global Elites Emit as Much Carbon as Bottom 66 Percent

The richest 1 percent of the world’s population produce as much carbon as the bottom 66 percent, a new study shows.

Jets airplanes are parked at the Dubendorf Air Base, east of Zurich on Jan. 18, 2023. Sebastien Bozon/AFP via Getty Images

Critics who rail against the hypocrisy of wealthy global elites jet-setting on carbon-spewing private planes while pontificating about the need for the rest of us to cut our climate footprints just got a boost from a new study.

It turns out that the world’s richest 1 percent emit about the same amount of carbon as the world’s poorest two-thirds, according to an analysis from the nonprofit Oxfam International.