Inequality is damaging the cohesion needed to fight climate change.
It is estimated that the 125 wealthiest billionaires alone emit three million tonnes of carbon annually. This is close to the carbon footprint of Madagascar, a country of 30 million people. Recent attention on the super-emitters has focused on jets, but private super-yachts are also major contributors. Despite their names, these vessels lack sails and require gigalitres of fuel to transport only a small number of crew and passengers. Large yachts can consume hundreds of litres of fuel per hour, while super-yachts may use thousands of litres per hour even when just cruising. Yacht engines must “idle” at anchor to maintain heating and energy systems, consuming thousands of litres per week. The yacht owned by former Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, Eclipse, reportedly has a 1,000,000-litre fuel tank, while Google’s Sergey Brin’s super-yacht uses enough power to supply 580 homes, even when it is simply moored in port. The emerging trend of private rockets also involves burning vast quantities of fuel – with no current limits on use. Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ first trip to the edge of the atmosphere reportedly produced around 93 metric tons of CO². It has been calculated that there are 41.3 million high net worth individuals in the world, and, within this group, 510,000 ultra-high net worth individuals. Together, they are thought to possess liquid wealth of nearly US$60 trillion.
23 December 2025
