(Montreal) The 125 billionaires among the richest on the planet finance each year the equivalent of annual carbon emissions (CO2) of France, a country of 67 million people.
Posted at 7:27 p.m.
This is one of the findings reached by the Oxfam organization in a new report which highlights the environmental impact of the investments of the world’s largest fortunes in 183 companies.
The spotlight is often focused on the efforts of governments and individuals in the face of the climate crisis, but rarely on the responsibility of companies and their billionaire investors, notes political analyst at Oxfam Quebec, Léa Pelletier-Marcotte.
“We often make the normal person feel guilty, we make an individual feel bad because sometimes he takes his car rather than public transport. But who has the influence if changing the way he invests or the decision where he puts his money could make the biggest difference? “, she argues in an interview.
It appears that the money invested by the billionaires analyzed by Oxfam contributed to the emission of 393 million tons of CO2 per year. On average per billionaire, this represents 3 million tonnes of CO2a million times more than the tons produced individually by 90% of humanity, can we read in the report.
“It would take almost four million people to go vegan to offset the emissions of each of these billionaires,” write the authors of the research.
Yes, we can look at the lifestyle, talk about private jet flights, yachts, multiple properties” of these wealthiest, nevertheless their investments correspond to 50% to 70% of their carbon footprint.
Lea Pelletier-Marcotte
Together, the 125 billionaires have a $2.4 trillion stake in the roughly 180 companies. Nearly 15% of this money is concentrated in polluting industries, such as fossil fuels and cement, while these sectors represent about 7% of companies in the S&P 500 stock index.
The rest goes notably to the sectors of non-essential products, essential goods and the financial sector.
Of the sample, only one billionaire had invested in a renewable energy company, also evokes the study, which was based in particular on data from the Bloomberg group and the declarations of the companies on their greenhouse gas emissions. (GES).
“If the billionaires in our sample shifted their investments to a fund that simply tracked the S&P 500 index, for example, their emissions intensity would be cut in half. If they were placed in a low-carbon equity fund, it could cut emissions by four,” says Oxfam.
Shaping the economy of tomorrow
The report is released as the UN Climate Change Conference, COP27, begins in Egypt. Heads of State and Government are meeting to materialize the commitments made with the Paris Agreement to limit the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Without the contribution of billionaire investors, it will be difficult to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement. They have the power to shape the economy of tomorrow by selecting low-carbon activities, believes Mme Pelletier-Marcotte.
“An investment in dirty infrastructure will lock us into a cycle of emissions for the next few years,” says the analyst.
Oxfam recommends that the world’s wealthiest reduce their investment in polluting industries to encourage them to be more environmentally responsible.
But to achieve this, state intervention also remains essential, agrees Mme Pelletier-Marcotte. Oxfam calls on governments in its report for better regulation forcing companies to change in terms of governance, in order to favor well-being and sustainability before profits.
The international cooperation organization is also calling for the introduction of a wealth tax on the wealthiest people and an additional tax on wealth invested in polluting industries.
“The money accumulated would contribute to ensuring better climate justice. Ensure that the countries that contribute the least to the impacts of the climate crisis are more helped and resilient”, mentions Ms.me Pelletier-Marcotte.
Oxfam also wants companies to be more transparent about their emissions and their efforts to reduce their environmental impact.
The organization also specifies that its study underestimates the extent of emissions related to the investments of billionaires due to unavailable information. For example, many companies do not report indirect “scope 3” emissions of the GHG Protocol.
These arise from, among other things, the company’s supply chains, employee travel and consumer use of the goods it sells. However, this category is for most companies their main sources of emissions, says Oxfam.
The other two categories correspond to emissions produced directly by a company’s activities and those generated indirectly by the consumption of purchased energy.
Oxfam would like disclosure of this information to become mandatory for companies.