Richest 1% used up their 2026 carbon budget in 10 days

An Oxfam analysis reports that the richest 1% exhausted their 2026 per-person CO2 budget in about 10 days, and the richest 0.1% did so in roughly three days; the report links these emissions to high-consumption lifestyles and investment holdings.

Oxfam published an analysis showing the richest 1% exhausted their per-person carbon budget for 2026 within about 10 days. The top 0.1% used up that budget in roughly three days. The report draws on data from the Stockholm Environment Institute and ties the budgets to the 1.5°C Paris goal. It attributes much of the difference to high-consumption lifestyles and investments held by the super-rich. Key findings: - The richest 1% emit about 82.8 tons of CO2 per person per year, which uses an average global per-person annual CO2 budget of about 2.3 tons in roughly 10 days. - Members of the richest 0.1% exceed that same per-person budget in about three days. - Oxfam reports that many billionaires hold investment portfolios linked to companies that would produce about 2 million tons of CO2 per year each. - The report estimates decades of elevated emissions from the super-rich could cause about $44 trillion in economic damage to low- and lower-middle-income countries by 2050 and be associated with an estimated 1.3 million heat-related deaths by the end of the century. Summary: The analysis shows a concentrated share of emissions among a very small wealthy group and notes that socioeconomically vulnerable communities face disproportionate exposure and harm. Oxfam recommends policy measures such as higher income and wealth taxes and taxes on carbon-intensive luxury items; the next procedural or policy steps are undetermined at this time.