Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 45 2022

AsiaElec COMMENTARY AsiaElec

Uberwealthy are the

worst climate criminals

COMMENTARY THE investments of the world’s 125 wealthiest destroying the planet. Governments must put
people produce the same amount of CO2 as also in place ambitious regulations and policies
the whole of France, while each of them emits that compel corporations to be more account-
a million times more greenhouse gases than the able and transparent in reporting and radically
average person. reducing their emissions,” said Dabi.
A new report from Oxfam found that bil- Indeed, CO2 created from the oil and gas
lionaires’ investments create an average of 3m production could be severely underreported,
tonnes per year per person of CO2, compared a report from Climate TRACE, a coalition
to 2.76 tonnes per person for the bottom 90% of founded by former US Vice President Al Gore,
humanity, found that an average of 14% of their warned this week.
investments were in polluting industries such as The report said that emissions data voluntar-
energy and cement. ily offered to the UN Framework Convention
“These few billionaires together have ‘invest- on Climate Change, the body that includes the
ment emissions’ that equal the carbon footprints annual COP summits, was misleading, and that
of entire countries like France, Egypt or Argen- real emissions levels could be three times higher.
tina,” said Nafkote Dabi, Climate Change Lead More than half of the 50 largest sources of
at Oxfam greenhouse gas emissions are associated with
“The major and growing responsibility of oil and natural gas fields and those emissions are
wealthy people for overall emissions is rarely dis- vastly under-reported, the report warned.
cussed or considered in climate policy making. Furthermore, the World Meteorological
This has to change. These billionaire investors Organisation warned this week that emissions
at the top of the corporate pyramid have huge levels for the three main greenhouse gases –
responsibility for driving climate breakdown. carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide –
They have escaped accountability for too long,” reached record levels in 2021.
said Dabi. Methane measurements in 2020 and 2021
Oxfam’s report said that many of the 183 detected within-year increases of 15 and 18 parts
corporations examined were off track in setting per billion, respectively, the largest increases in
their climate transition plans, including hiding atmospheric methane since systematic measure-
behind unrealistic and unreliable decarboniza- ments began in the 1980s.
tion plans with the promise of attaining net zero In the week of COP27, Oxfam called for
targets only by 2050. wealth taxes to target the super-rich, given their
Fewer than one in three of the 183 corporates disproportionate impact on the environment
reviewed by Oxfam are working with the Science and climate change.
Based Targets Initiative. Only 16% percent have Oxfam has estimated in recent research that
set net zero targets. a wealth tax on the worlds’ super rich could raise
“We need COP27 to expose and change the up to $2.5 trillion a year, vital resources that
role that big corporates and their rich investors could help developing countries – those worst
are playing in profiting from the pollution that is hit by the climate crisis – to adapt, address loss
driving the global climate crisis,” said Dabi. and damage and carry out a just transition to
“They can’t be allowed to hide or greenwash. renewable energy.
We need governments to tackle this urgently by Oxfam said that governments needed to put
publishing emission figures for the richest peo- in place regulations and policies that compel cor-
ple, regulating investors and corporates to slash porations to track and report on scope 1, scope
carbon emissions and taxing wealth and pollut- 2 and scope 3 GHG emissions, set science-based
ing investments.” climate targets with a clear road map to reducing
The choice of investments billionaires make is emissions.
shaping the future of our economy, for example, Governments should implement a wealth tax
by backing high carbon infrastructure – lock- on the richest people and an additional steep rate
ing in high emissions for decades to come. The top-up on wealth invested in polluting indus-
study found that if the billionaires in the sample tries. This will reduce the numbers and power
moved their investments to a fund with stronger of rich people in our society, drastically reduce
environmental and social standards, it could their emissions. It will also raise billions that can
reduce the intensity of their emissions by up to be used to help countries cope with the brutal
four times. impacts of climate breakdown and the loss and
“The super-rich need to be taxed and regu- damage they incur and fund the global shift to
lated away from polluting investments that are renewable energy..™

Week 45 08•November•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P11