The UK’s top 1% of earners are responsible for the same amount of carbon dioxide emissions in a single year as the bottom 10% emit over more than 20 years, according to a new study from Autonomy, a British think tank.

The results are consistent with other research which show high-wealth individuals as drivers of emissions growth globally. A recent paper by Lucas Chancel, a professor at France’s Sciences Po University, found that the bottom 50% of the world’s population emitted 12% of global emissions in 2019, while the top 10% emitted 48%.

The superrich appear to be increasing their emissions at a faster rate too. Per capita emissions of the global top 1% have increased since 1990, whereas emissions from low- and middle-income groups within rich countries declined.

“Contrary to the situation in 1990, 63% of the global inequality in individual emissions is now due to a gap between low and high emitters within countries rather than between countries,” Chancel wrote in his paper published in September.

Tourism and mobility

Tourism represents about 10% of global carbon emissions and transportation 25%. Private aviation is responsible for 4% of aviation emissions. Yachts and superyachts are the most energy-intensive forms of transportation, explains Stefan Gössling, a professor at the Linnaeus University School of Business and Economics in Sweden.

“The difference between rich and poor is limited regarding food, maybe a factor of ten. Travelling and tourism are…