Disclaimer: Limited information is available to accurately answer the question of who has the biggest carbon footprint in the world. When citing specific people, this post sources based the estimates on information publicly available – billionaires with limited publicly available information have not been included in the billionaire emissions. Nonetheless, data and research indicate that people with the highest wealth and related to the fossil fuels industry are the ones with the higher carbon footprint.
Introduction
According to a study by Oxfam, the investments of the world’s wealthiest individuals contribute significantly to their carbon footprint. In contrast to the general population, up to 70% of their emissions stem from investments. The analysis of 125 of the world’s richest billionaires reveals that, on average, they emit 3 million tons of carbon annually – more than a million times that of those in the bottom 90% of the global population.
The findings also indicate that billionaires invest twice as much in polluting industries, such as fossil fuels and cement, compared to the average for the Standard & Poor 500 companies.
On average billionaires emit 3 million tons of carbon annually. This is 1,000,000 times more than the average citizen.
OxfamHow does the carbon footprint of a billionaire look like?
To gain a clearer perspective, let’s begin with the footprint of an average individual.
In 2018, the average U.S. resident, including billionaires, emitted approximately 15 tons of CO2 per person. Meanwhile, the global average footprint is lower at approximately 5 tons per person.
However, the 20 individuals in the sample of the study had a significantly higher carbon footprint, emitting an average of 8,190 tons of CO2 in 2018. It is worth noting that some of these individuals had a much larger impact on greenhouse gas emissions compared to others. Also, as previously mentioned that the list is not complete, and only based on publicly available information.
Richard Wilk, Distinguished Professor and Provost’s Professor of Anthropology; Director of the Open Anthropology Institute, Indiana University and Beatriz Barros, Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology, Indiana University
Conclusion
It is difficult to determine which individual has the largest carbon footprint in the world as it depends on various factors such as lifestyle, personal consumption patterns, and investments. However, in general, the individual with the larger carbon footprint will have high levels of wealth and consumption tend to have larger carbon footprints compared to the average person. This can be due to factors such as private jet travel, multiple large homes, and investments in carbon-intensive industries. Additionally, it is important to consider that the carbon footprint of corporations and countries also significantly contributes to the global carbon footprint.
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Featured image: Photo by Eugene Chystiakov on Unsplash
