According to the data illustrated in the Oxfam study, the richest 1% in the world alone have caused 20% of the global warming recorded from 1990 to today, and by 2050 the economic damage attributable to the top 1% will approach 53,000 billion dollars. The extreme symbol of inequality is the private jet: in two seconds of flight, a vehicle of that type emits more CO₂ than a person from the poorest half of the world generates in a year.
“The super rich are responsible for a disproportionate share of carbon emissions, while the rest of the world suffers the worst consequences – explains Oxfam – As people struggle to recover from floods, fires and rising food prices, the super rich can protect themselves and even profit from the crisis. Carbon pollution produced by the richest 1% of the population directly contributes to the increase in climate disasters, including floods, fires, droughts and food crises. Their annual emissions are estimated to cause 1.9 million deaths in excess due to the heat".
"Inequality - explains the international confederation of non-profit organizations - not only determines who suffers when disasters strike, but can also make them much more lethal. Research by Oxfam has shown that deaths caused by floods are seven times higher in countries with greater inequality. When extreme weather events occur, wealth and resources can make the difference between being able to protect yourself and being left at the mercy of the events. While the rich can afford insurance or move to a safer place, others lose their homes and their means of subsistence, struggle to feed their families and face a long journey of reconstruction and recovery."
Then there is the issue of profit, with the global disaster management market potentially growing from 70 to 92 billion dollars a year by 2029. Oxfam's new "Destroy & Rebuild Index" analyzed 217 large companies capable of making money on both fronts: first by fueling the crisis with fossil fuels, then by cashing in on prevention, response and reconstruction. Funds like BlackRock and Vanguard hold stakes in 92% of these companies, worth more than $1 trillion.
The gender factor also weighs heavily on the victims of the climate crisis: in the most fragile countries, those who pay the most are almost always women and girls, due to food insecurity, unpaid care work, school dropouts and early marriages. At the same time, research has found that women are more likely to champion change and embody practices of sustainability, care and collective responsibility. A study of the attitudes and actions of European Union (EU) politicians showed that women are significantly more likely than men to support environmental legislation, even after taking political ideology and nationality into account. Some studies also highlight that countries with a higher percentage of women in parliament tend to record lower CO₂ emissions per capita, and that countries in which more women hold environmental decision-making positions adopt more ambitious emissions reduction targets and apply environmental regulations more rigorously.
Oxfam's appeal to Cop31 is clear: tax large fortunes and polluting luxury goods according to the "polluter pays" principle, triple funds for the adaptation of the Global South by 2035 while avoiding loans that increase debt, strengthen welfare against new climate risks and stop speculation on disasters. The climate crisis, concludes the Disaster Divide report, does not affect everyone in the same way: and as long as those who generate it profit from it, the challenge "that should unite humanity" will remain a mockery for those who pay for it firsthand.
"The climate crisis is often described as a challenge that should unite all of humanity, but what we are witnessing goes exactly in the opposite direction", explains Francesco Petrelli, spokesperson for Oxfam Italia. The wealthiest 0.1% of the world today produces triple emissions compared to the entire sub-Saharan Africa, 1.3 billion people. And while the poorest remain helpless in the face of increasingly extreme events, the super-rich "find ways out: hyper-technological underground bunkers, private firefighting teams or policies to cover their losses". According to Petrelli "the super-rich first set the planet on fire and then present us with the bill for the fire extinguishers".
