The former director of the AP-HP was invited by France Inter for the release of his novel “Les Solastalgiques”.
Martin Hirsch, the former director of L’Assistance publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), has just published a novel on climate change. Guest of France Inter Monday May 8, he denounced the responsibility of the richest: “10% of the richest, it’s true for the planet and it’s true for France, cause 50% of emissions, while 50% of the poorest, so half of the world, produce only 10 to 15% shows.”
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Figures from an Oxfam report
Martin Hirsch is right for the richest. On the other hand, the poorest emit even less than he claims, according to a study by the NGO Oxfam, published almost two years ago, which examined and analyzed CO2 emissions between 1990 and 2015, whether for travel (car, plane), but also for housing or even purchases in general.
The balance sheet over this long period shows that it is indeed the richest 10% of the planet (just over 600 million people) who are responsible for more than half (52% precisely) of the cumulative emissions.
Is it the same in France, as Martin Hirsch says? It’s still less than on a global scale, but the gap remains significant since over the same period (1990-2015), the richest 10% of French people were responsible for around a quarter of cumulative CO2 emissions, again according to Oxfam’s estimate.
The poorest, the first victims
Conversely, the poorest weigh very little in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Ihe poorer half of humanity generates only 7% of emissions. To give an idea, you have to imagine that a little over three billion people have emitted two times less CO2 over the past 25 years than the richest 60 million (ie 1% of the planet’s inhabitants).
Ihe NGO Oxfam also denounces an injustice, because these inhabitants, who often live in the countries least responsible for global warming, will nevertheless suffer the consequences first.