The world’s richest 0.1 per cent, a group of just 8 million people, emit more carbon than the poorest 44 per cent of the global population, or 3.5 billion people, combined, according to a report by Oxfam, an international non-profit focused on tackling poverty and inequality.
A person in the richest 0.1 per cent is responsible for 125 times more emissions linked to extreme heat events than the average person, and almost 400 times more than someone in the poorest half of the world’s population, the report, “Disaster Divide: How Climate Chaos Deepens Inequality and Enriches the Few”, finds. This small group also produces more than three times as much carbon pollution as the entire population of sub-Saharan Africa, which numbers about 1.3 billion people.
Published ahead of the UN climate summit, COP31, in Turkey, the report highlights how the wealthiest contribute disproportionately to greenhouse-gas emissions while poorer communities bear the brunt of climate disasters.
Climate change deepens inequality, increases disaster deaths
Climate disasters do not affect everyone equally. Existing inequalities leave poorer communities more vulnerable to extreme weather, while the resulting loss of homes, livelihoods and essential services can deepen poverty. Deaths from flooding are seven times higher in countries with greater inequality, Oxfam says.
The emissions of the wealthiest also have consequences that extend far beyond their immediate surroundings. The report estimates that the annual emissions of an individual in the richest 0.1 per cent will cause about 1.9 million additional heat-related deaths over time.
Livelihoods, food security at stake in Global South
Oxfam warns that as many as 1 billion people, or one in 10 worldwide, could be displaced by the climate crisis by 2050. Most are expected to be in the Global South.
Displacement is only one part of the problem. Millions more could lose their livelihoods, see their communities disrupted and face greater difficulty rebuilding secure lives.
Climate change is also undermining food production and driving up prices. Changing rainfall patterns, rising temperatures and deteriorating soils are making agriculture increasingly vulnerable. In many low-income countries, people depend on farming and natural resources for both their incomes and their food supplies.
The report describes how climate change can erode food security even when it does not trigger a major disaster: rains arrive late, fail altogether or fall too heavily, gradually reducing harvests. Meanwhile, rising food prices consume an increasing share of household incomes.
About 2.3 billion people, most of them living in the Global South, faced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2024. Climate-related shocks are placing further pressure on food production and consumption, particularly among low-income households.
Poorer households are especially vulnerable to food-price increases because they spend a larger proportion of their incomes on food. Even in the US, the poorest fifth of the population spends 33 per cent of its income on food, compared with 8 per cent for the richest fifth. In low- and lower-middle-income countries, the share of income spent on food is 2.74 times that in high-income countries, the report says.
These disparities mean that a rise in food prices can have a far greater impact on poorer households, leaving less money for housing, healthcare, education and other essentials.
El Niño could intensify climate pressures
A powerful El Niño, described in forecasts as potentially among the strongest on record, could intensify climate impacts and push temperatures to new highs through the end of 2026 and into 2027. The phenomenon is associated with drought in some regions, heavy rainfall and flooding in others, and widespread heat stress.
When El Niño last struck with comparable force in 2015-16, about 60 million people were directly affected. The consequences included damage to agriculture and food security, as well as knock-on effects on livelihoods, water and sanitation, and health.
Similar pressures could intensify over the next two years, further straining food systems and pushing up prices. In June 2026, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) estimated that between 115 million and 125 million people would need urgent food assistance by December 2026. Conflict and fragile political conditions have compounded the crisis, with famine risks already acute in several countries.
Super-rich drive emissions through private jets and investments
The world is dangerously close to breaching the 1.5°C warming threshold above pre-industrial levels, the limit that countries have pledged to pursue under the Paris climate agreement. Continued emissions from the wealthiest are making that goal harder to achieve.
Oxfam draws on public databases, Forbes’ billionaire list and data on private-jet emissions to examine the relationship between extreme wealth and climate damage. Its analysis finds that the world’s private jets collectively emit more carbon dioxide in two seconds than a person in the poorest half of the global population emits in a year.
Private jets are used by just 0.003 per cent of the world’s population, or about 250,000 people. Oxfam’s analysis of flight-tracking data and academic research found that private jets emitted 16 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2025.
How the super-rich profit from climate disasters
Oxfam also argues that some companies and investors profit both from activities that fuel climate change and from the disasters and reconstruction efforts that follow.
Its new “Destroy and Rebuild” Index identifies 217 corporations that allegedly benefit from industries contributing to climate breakdown as well as from disaster preparedness, recovery and reconstruction.
The report says wealthy investors backing fossil fuels and other polluting industries can also profit from the growing market for disaster response and rebuilding. While affected communities may spend years struggling with debt and the loss of their homes and livelihoods, investors can find new opportunities in reconstruction.
The global disaster-recovery market is projected to grow from US $70 billion to $92 billion a year by 2029, increasingly driven by climate-related extreme weather, according to the report.
The 217 companies in the index generated an average of $1.8bn each in 2025 and paid an average of more than $1 billion each to shareholders, Oxfam says.
Six major asset managers, including Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street, account for more than a quarter of the corporations listed in the index. BlackRock and Vanguard have investments in 92 per cent of the companies covered, with their combined holdings exceeding $1 trillion, according to the report.
Oxfam also warns that climate disasters can be used to justify policies that deepen inequality. These include the privatisation of climate action and public services, land grabs, deregulation and tax breaks that benefit the wealthy.
The result, it argues, is a cycle in which those who contribute most to climate change can profit from the resulting damage, while vulnerable communities face the greatest risks and the hardest recovery.
“The ultra-rich are setting the planet on fire and then charging the rest of us for the extinguishers,” said Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International’s executive director. “They profit from the pollution. They profit from the disaster. And they profit again from the clean-up.”