(Montreal) Every year, the 125 billionaires, who are among the richest in the world, finance the equivalent of the annual carbon emissions (CO2) of France, a country of 67 million people.
Posted at 7:27pm
Frederic Lacroix-Couture The Canadian Press
That’s the conclusion of the Oxfam organization in a new report that shows the environmental impact of investing in the world’s biggest fortunes in 183 companies.
The spotlight is often on the efforts of governments and individuals in the face of the climate crisis, but rarely on the responsibilities of corporations and their billionaire investors, notes Oxfam Quebec policy analyst Léa Pelletier-Marcotte.
“We often make ordinary people feel guilty, we make people feel guilty because sometimes they prefer to drive their car to public transport. But who has the leverage if changing the way they invest or deciding where to put their money could make the biggest difference? ‘ she argued in an interview.
It appears that the money invested by the billionaires analyzed by Oxfam has contributed to the emission of 393 million tons of CO2 per year. On average per billionaire, this equates to 3 million tons of CO2, a million times more than the tons produced individually by 90% of humanity, we can see from the report.
“It would take almost four million people to go vegan to offset the emissions of each of these billionaires,” the study’s authors write.
Yes, we can look at the lifestyle, talk about private jet flights, yachts, multiple properties” of these richest, yet their investments correspond to 50% to 70% of their carbon footprint.
Lea Pelletier-Marcotte
Together, the 125 billionaires have a share of 2.4 trillion US dollars in the approximately 180 companies. Nearly 15% of that money is concentrated in polluting industries like fossil fuels and cement, while those sectors make up about 7% of companies in the S&P 500 stock index.
The remainder is accounted for in particular by the sectors of non-essential goods, daily necessities and the financial sector.
According to the study, which relied in particular on data from the Bloomberg group and the companies’ statements on their greenhouse gas emissions (GES), only one billionaire from the sample had invested in a renewable energy company.
“If the billionaires in our sample shifted their investments to a fund that simply tracks the S&P 500 index, for example, their issuance intensity would be halved. If they were invested in a low-carbon equity fund, emissions could be cut by four,” says Oxfam.
Shaping the economy of tomorrow
The report will be released when the UN climate change conference COP27 begins in Egypt. Leaders meet to implement commitments made in the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Without the contribution of billionaire investors, it will be difficult to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. You have the power to shape tomorrow’s economy by choosing low-carbon activities, says Ms Pelletier-Marcotte.
“An investment in dirty infrastructure will lock us into a cycle of emissions for years to come,” says the analyst.
Oxfam recommends the world’s richest to reduce their investment in polluting industries to encourage them to be more environmentally conscious.
However, State intervention remains essential to achieve this, agrees Ms Pelletier-Marcotte. Oxfam’s report urges governments to force companies to better regulate, change how they run their businesses to prioritize welfare and sustainability over profit.
The Organization for International Cooperation also calls for the introduction of a wealth tax on the wealthiest people and an additional tax on wealth invested in polluting industries.
“The money raised would help ensure more climate justice. Ensure that the countries least contributing to the impact of the climate crisis are better supported and more resilient,” said Ms Pelletier-Marcotte.
Oxfam also wants companies to be more transparent about their emissions and their efforts to reduce their environmental impact.
The organization also states that its study underestimates the magnitude of emissions related to billionaire investments due to unavailable information. For example, many companies do not report “Scope 3” indirect emissions from the GHG Protocol.
These result, among other things, from the company’s supply chains, employee travel and consumer use of the goods sold. However, this category is their main source of emissions for most companies, says Oxfam.
The other two categories correspond to the emissions that arise directly from a company’s activities and indirectly from the consumption of purchased energy.
Oxfam wants companies to be required to disclose this information.