Top 10% of Carbon Emitters Cause Half of All Emissions

The highest-emitting ten percent of the world's carbon emitters are responsible for an estimated 47 percent share of global CO₂ emissions. This is the result of a 2022 study published in the journal Nature Sustainability, which focused on how alleviating poverty worldwide would impact carbon emissions. As our chart shows, the difference between the individuals emitting the most and least carbon is not only evident in their emission share.

On average, a person in the bottom 50 percent emitters group only produces about one ton of CO₂ per year compared to about 48 tons of carbon dioxide per capita emitted by the top one percent. Of course, the results are different depending on the region. In Europe, for example, the bottom 50 percent had a higher estimated share of total emissions than the top ten percent, while the top one percent in Sub-Saharan Africa induced more carbon emissions than the bottom 50 percent.

While combating global poverty would entail a coordinated effort and logistical challenges, its effects on global warming would be minimal according to the study. Lifting more than one billion people above the poverty line under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 1 would only raise the estimated global CO₂ output by roughly two percent, even though carbon emissions in low to lower-middle income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa could double.