We don’t tend to see many billionaires here in Sheffield. They are more likely to be in their mansions or travelling the world in their private jets or yachts. Their lives are insulated from the struggles of ordinary people, whom they are never likely to meet.
Yet this small number of people has a disproportionate effect on all our lives and in particular, the health of our planet.
Oxfam recently released a report which tells us the richest 1% of humanity is responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 66%, with dire consequences for vulnerable communities and global efforts to tackle the climate emergency.
The report tells us “The world faces twin crises of climate breakdown and runaway inequality. The richest people, corporations and countries are destroying the world with their huge carbon emissions. Meanwhile, people living in poverty, those experiencing marginalization, and countries in the Global South are those impacted the hardest. Women and girls, Indigenous Peoples, people living in poverty and other groups experiencing discrimination are particularly at a disadvantage. The consequences of climate breakdown are felt in all parts of the world and by most people, yet only the richest people and countries have the wealth, power and influence to protect themselves. With that power comes huge responsibility.
If no action is taken, the richest will continue to burn through the carbon we have left to use while keeping the global temperature below the safe limit of 1.5°C, destroying any chance of ending poverty and ensuring equality. The world needs an equal transformation. Only a radical reduction in inequality, transformative climate action and fundamentally shifting our economic goals as a society can save our planet while ensuring wellbeing for all.”
In the forward Greta Thunberg makes clear that climate breakdown and inequality are linked together and fuel each other. If we are to overcome one, we must overcome both.
“The richest 1% have stolen our planet’s resources to fuel their lavish lifestyles. A short trip on a private jet will produce more carbon than the average person emits all year. ”
The King, Prime Minister Sunak and Foreign Secretary Cameron all flew separately to the United Arab Emirates this week in their private jets to attend COP28. A perfect example of “do as I say, not as I do.”
Climate scientist Kevin Anderson wrote “This 1% of humanity uses its awesome power to manipulate societal aspirations and the narratives around climate change. These extend from well-funded advertising to pseudo-technical solutions, from the financialisation of carbon emissions (and increasingly, nature) to labelling extreme any meaningful narrative that questions inequality and power.”
George Monbiot highlighted the fact that these “pollutocrats” as he calls them also go to great lengths to thwart other people’s attempts to prevent Earth systems collapse. “Billionaires and centimillionaires fund a network of organisations that seek to prevent effective environmental action.”
Many of the think tanks founded or funded by Charles and the late David Koch, owners of a vast business empire incorporating fossil fuel extraction, oil refineries and chemical plants, supply the arguments that prevent action on climate. So do their counterparts in the UK, in or around Tufton Street in Westminster.
George continues “The multimillionaire Jeremy Hosking, who poured millions into Vote Leave and the Brexit party, is also the main funder of Laurence Fox’s Reclaim party, which claims there is no climate emergency and campaigns against net zero policies and low traffic neighbourhoods and in favour of fracking. Coincidentally, an investigation by openDemocracy last year found that his company, Hosking Partners, had $134m invested in the fossil fuel sector.”
Some of the world’s super-rich are preparing to leave the planet in the event of climate breakdown. The CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk, has floated the idea of evacuating to Mars!
The Oxfam report suggests using increased taxation of excessive wealth and profit to bring it back into public hands. Trillions of dollars of this new tax revenue must flow to the Global South to fund a rapid and just energy transition, support communities to protect themselves from climate change and provide compensation for the loss and damage caused by climate breakdown. It must be used to cancel crippling debts, help rapidly reduce inequality, end poverty and deliver prosperity for all.
I wrote to some of the richest people in South Yorkshire to see if they had anything to say about the Oxfam report. Unsurprisingly I haven’t received any replies.
Njoki Njehu Pan-Africa Regional Coordinator, from Fight Inequality Alliance writes in the report
“I believe, now more than ever, that the rich and the powerful in our world fear the end of capitalism – their power and privilege – more than they fear the end of our beautiful, precious planet. They have known for decades that the fight against inequality and the fight to stop climate breakdown are the same struggle. Stopping climate breakdown means an end to the economic system that has served them so well for so long. That is why they resist in every way they can. Why they continue to pollute our air, poison our seas, and push us over the edge of planetary destruction.”
“I also believe, now more than ever, that we can, and we must, stop them. To do this we must build peoples’ movements bigger than we have ever known. Climate warriors and inequality fighters; rural farmers and feminists; trade unionists and youth activists must join arms across the planet to scream ‘Enough! No More!’. We must build an unstoppable force, coming together to fight and win a radically more equal world, where everyone can live in dignity, and our planet is restored and renewed for all future generations. There is no greater task, no greater responsibility at hand for our times.”
In Sheffield, that battle continues on Saturday, Dec 9th as we take to the streets for the Climate Justice March. Meet at Devonshire Green at 12 noon.
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