In other words, the global climate crisis is being driven largely by the global rich. And things become even more lopsided as we climb the income ladder. Individuals in the richest 1% emit one hundred times more than individuals in the poorest half of the human population.28 Why? It’s not only because they consume more stuff than everybody else, but also because the stuff they consume is more energy-intensive: huge houses, big cars, private jets, frequent flights, long-distance holidays, luxury imports, and so on.29 And if the rich have more money than they can spend, which is virtually always
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