Oxfam names perp, Olympic-level surveillance, Boots on the ground...where?
Links for Friday, November 1
The very rich. This isn’t about jealousy, but control, ours of them.
—Yours truly
Following the “Name the Perp” principle, today we present several takes on a recent Oxfam report that discusses the carbonizing practices of the very rich — Davos Man and Woman living life to the full.
For those who’ve forgotten, that principle was discussed here:
Name the Damn Perp
Poor wretches that depend on greatness' favour dream as I have done, wake and find nothing. (William Shakespeare)
and put into practice here:
Thanks to Oxfam, there’s more news on this front.
Links
Oxfam is at it again with another report on the very rich and their carboniferous ways. Here are some takes on what it contains.
The Actual Climate Perps
• The deadly environmental toll of superyachts and private jets (Climate & Capitalism)
In analyzing the Oxfam report (see below), the people at Climate & Capitalism find some stunning details. For example (emphasis mine):
The [Oxfam] report presents detailed new evidence of how the super-rich’s outsized emissions are accelerating climate breakdown and wreaking havoc on lives and economies. The world’s poorest countries and communities have done the least to cause the climate crisis, yet they experience its most dangerous consequences.
One ultra-rich European takes an average of 140 flights a year, spending 267 hours in the air and producing as much carbon as the average European would in over 112 years.
In the same period, one superyacht user emits as much carbon as an ordinary European would in 585 years.
Less than a week of emissions from the superyachts and jets of one of the 31 of the richest people in the EU exceeded the entire lifetime emissions of a person in the world’s poorest 1%.
Fifty of the world’s richest billionaires on average emit more carbon through their investments, private jets and yachts in just over an hour and a half than the average person does in their entire lifetime.
File under “They really do love only themselves.”
• Billionaires emit more carbon pollution in 90 minutes than the average person does in a lifetime (Oxfam)
This is from Oxfam’s write-up of their own report:
Fifty of the world’s richest billionaires on average produce more carbon through their investments, private jets and yachts in just over an hour and a half than the average person does in their entire lifetime, a new Oxfam report reveals today. The first-of-its-kind study, “Carbon Inequality Kills,” tracks the emissions from private jets, yachts and polluting investments and details how the super-rich are fueling inequality, hunger and death across the world. The report comes ahead of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, amidst growing fears that climate breakdown is accelerating, driven largely by the emissions of the richest people.
The report and associated documents are here: “Carbon Inequality Kills”. From the full paper (emphasis theirs):
The argument that ‘there is no money’ does not hold water. If governments were willing to make rich, high-polluting individuals and corporations pay, they could start raising the scale of financing truly needed. For example, governments could raise:
• At least US$1.7 trillion per year with a wealth tax on the world’s millionaires and billionaires.
• An additional US$100bn from an additional wealth tax on investments in polluting activities.
• Around US$6.4 trillion per year with an income tax of 60% on the top 1% of earners globally.
• Up to US$941bn through a windfall corporate profits tax on 722 of the world’s largest corporations, who together raked in over US$1 trillion in windfall profits per year in 2022 and 2023.
File under “But you always knew this was true, didn’t you?”