Project

Carbon inequality

Active project

2020

Project contact

Carbon inequality refers to the disproportionate distribution of carbon emissions between various groups based on income, gender, race, caste and beyond. SEI’s research seeks to understand the scale and sources of carbon inequality in order to find solutions to address carbon inequality that are effective and fair, both within a country and between countries on an international scale.

The world’s richest individuals, who are primarily located in the Global North, have consumption and investment habits that heavily rely on fossil fuels. This is a major contributing factor to the high levels of carbon emissions we see today, yet policy efforts targeting the unsustainable patterns of the richest 1% are lagging, putting the world at risk of surpassing the remaining carbon budget before 2030. In turn, the poor bear the brunt of the decisions of the rich through disproportionate vulnerability to the livelihood, health and cost burdens of climate change on top of existing problems they face. But addressing this “carbon inequality” is not yet a high priority for policymakers, as is clearly reflected in countries’ alarmingly inadequate emissions reduction pledges known as Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs.

SEI’s work on carbon inequality provides civil society and policymakers with data and insights that can support efforts to jointly tackle inequality and climate change. Our high-profile 2020 carbon inequality analysis with Oxfam showed that the world’s richest 10% are not only responsible for 46% of emissions growth between 1990–2015, but will use the remaining carbon budget before 2030. In 2021, we integrated trade emissions into our dataset and created a new scenario that analyzed the impact of NDCs on carbon inequality. Finally, in 2022, we launched the Emissions Inequality Dashboard, making our full dataset available to the public and providing new country-level data and scenarios. In November 2023, an updated dataset was released with data for 172 countries.

Our research has been covered in more than 2000 articles including the New York Times and The Guardian, was amplified in social media by Greta Thunberg, Bill McKibben, and referenced by Patricia Espinosa, Ban Ki Moon and António Guterres. Our data has been incorporated in an analysis of carbon inequality in the EU and the 2020 UN Emissions Gap report. Most recently, carbon inequality has entered mainstream environmental discourse and is a headline statement in the latest IPCC report.

Aerial view of rust-colored rooftops beneath a gray sky in São Paulo, Brazil.

Q&A: How income inequality translates to emissions inequality

Feature / SEI researcher Emily Ghosh explains how SEI experts calculated the "emissions inequality" that informs a new Oxfam report.

29 October 2025 / About Behaviour and choice, Climate policy, Sustainable lifestyles and Transport

SEI and Oxfam shine light on the “carbon inequality era”

Feature / A report from Oxfam and SEI revealed that the richest 1% are responsible for twice as many carbon emissions as the poorest half of the world's population.

6 December 2022 / About Climate policy, Finance and Fossil fuels

Row of yachts and superyacht docked at Croatian resort town

Q&A: Paris Agreement won’t rectify carbon footprint of the rich

Feature / SEI Scientist Emily Ghosh discusses the continued disparity in carbon emissions between the poor and everyone else.

10 January 2022 / About Behaviour and choice, Climate policy, Pollution, Public policy and Sustainable lifestyles

Parque Real, favela next to upscale Morumbi neighborhood in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo: Danny Lehman / Getty Images.

Carbon emissions of richest one percent more than double the emissions of the poorest half of humanity

Press release / Oxfam's report, ‘Confronting Carbon Inequality,’ is based on research conducted with SEI and released as world leaders prepare for the UN General Assembly.

21 September 2020 / About Climate policy and Finance

A red carpet flanked by velvet ropes leads to the entry of a private jet on a runway.

SEI’s Anisha Nazareth in DW: Emissions of the rich and famous

Media coverage / A new report by DW details how the world's wealthy elite contribute an outsized share of the planet's human-caused climate emissions.

10 January 2023 / About Behaviour and choice, Fossil fuels, Pollution, Sustainable lifestyles and Transport

2020 Horizon 87 luxury yacht sails on blue sea

Al Jazeera: Do green investments by the very rich pencil out? SEI’s Emily Ghosh weighs in

Media coverage / Some of the world's richest people are making big investments in clean energy and green initiatives as their lavish lifestyles and industry emissions persist.

6 May 2022 / About Behaviour and choice, Business, Fossil fuels, Innovation, Pollution and Sustainable lifestyles

Aerial view of white smoke billowing over factory in autumn, Poznań, Poland

SEI:s Emily Ghosh i Dagens Nyheter om rika länders ansvar

Media coverage / I en intervju med Dagens Nyheter säger SEI:s Emily Ghosh att de rikaste är ansvariga för störst del av utsläppen och blir samtidigt minst påverkade.

22 March 2022 / About Climate policy, Finance and Fossil fuels

Industrial chimneys emitting smoke against a grey sky

Hur redovisar man klimatutsläpp rättvist?

Media coverage / Emily Ghosh, forskare vid Stockholm Environment Institute, intervjuas av Dagens Nyheter kring hur man kan mäta klimatutsläpp på ett rättvisande sätt.

13 November 2021 / About Adaptation and Climate policy

Silhouette of industrial buildings on a body of water with smokestacks extending into the gray winter sky, emitting plumes

Climate plunder: How a powerful few are locking the world into disaster

Other publication / A new Oxfam report draws on SEI research highlighting the disproportionate greenhouse gas emissions generated by upper-income populations.

29 October 2025 / About Climate policy, Energy access, Fossil fuels, Mitigation and Sustainable lifestyles

Aerial view of a sea of clouds punctuated with smoke stacks emitting pollution.

Climate equality: a planet for the 99%

Other publication / A new report from Oxfam draws upon SEI research which highlights the disproportionate greenhouse gas emissions generated by upper-income populations.

20 November 2023 / About Climate policy, Energy access, Fossil fuels, Mitigation and Sustainable lifestyles

The Carbon Inequality Era

Other publication / This paper draws on new data examining the starkly different global distribution of carbon consumption emissions among individuals from 1990 to 2015 and beyond.

21 September 2020 / About Climate policy, Finance and Fossil fuels