High-income groups disproportionately contribute to climate extremes worldwide

Schöngart, S., Nicholls, Z. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4767-2723, Hoffmann, R., Pelz, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3528-8679, & Schleussner, C.-F. (2025). High-income groups disproportionately contribute to climate extremes worldwide. Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02325-x. (In Press)

Preview

Text s41558-025-02325-x.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Climate injustice persists as those least responsible often bear the greatest impacts, both between and within countries. Here we show how GHG emissions from consumption and investments attributable to the wealthiest population groups have disproportionately influenced present-day climate change. We link emissions inequality over the period 1990–2020 to regional climate extremes using an emulator-based framework. We find that two-thirds (one-fifth) of warming is attributable to the wealthiest 10% (1%), meaning that individual contributions are 6.5 (20) times the average per capita contribution. For extreme events, the top 10% (1%) contributed 7 (26) times the average to increases in monthly 1-in-100-year heat extremes globally and 6 (17) times more to Amazon droughts. Emissions from the wealthiest 10% in the United States and China led to a two- to threefold increase in heat extremes across vulnerable regions. Quantifying the link between wealth disparities and climate impacts can assist in the discourse on climate equity and justice.

Actions (login required)

View Item