Pop quiz: how much larger is the carbon footprint of a person in the top 1 per cent of earners in the US compared to someone in the bottom 50 per cent? The (somewhat depressing) answer: on average, it's a 1,388 times bigger.
This means that, despite being outnumbered by 167 million people, the wealthier group are still responsible for 30 times more emissions overall (a total of 269 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent).
But don’t worry if this is news to you. A new study says the vast majority of people don’t know the true size of this inequality.
In fact, as many as 93 per cent of us think the carbon inequality gap between the rich and poor is smaller than it really is – meaning most of us also think that the least wealthy people are contributing more greenhouse gas emissions than they actually are.
Your carbon footprint represents the total amount of greenhouse gases you produce as an individual within your own country. Eating red meat, heating or cooling your home, and air travel greatly impact growing your carbon footprint.
The new study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, surveyed 4000 people to investigate how they see inequality in carbon footprints. This involved speaking to people across four countries, representing differences in wealth, lifestyle, culture and carbon emissions: Denmark, India, Nigeria and the United States.
Within each country, 50 per cent of people taking part in the study were in the top 10 per cent of income earners, whilst the other 50 per cent were in the bottom 90 per cent.
The researchers asked them to estimate the average personal carbon footprints for three income groups within their country: the bottom 50 per cent, the top 10 per cent, and the top 1 per cent.
The study revealed that most people across all countries underestimated the personal carbon footprint produced by the wealthiest groups (earners in the top 1 per cent and 10 per cent groups). The researchers also found that people overestimated the personal carbon footprint of the least wealthy group (those in the bottom 90 per cent of income earners).
“These countries are very different, but we found the rich are pretty similar no matter where you go, and their concerns are different to the rest of society,” said study co-author Dr Ramit Debnath from the University of Cambridge.
“There’s a huge contrast between billionaires travelling by private jet while the rest of us drink with soggy paper straws: one of those activities has a big impact on an individual carbon footprint, and one doesn’t.”
The scientists also investigated the link between carbon inequity and individuals’ support for climate policies. Despite being major polluters, the wealthiest 10 per cent of individuals were generally more supportive of climate policies, like raising electricity prices during peak times and taxing red meat.
The study authors say that this could be due to higher levels of education and resources that allow them to absorb the costs of these policies.
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