The world’s “polluter elite” must be the focus of government policies to tackle the climate crisis, a new report has urged. Across the globe, the wealthiest 10 per cent of people accounted for nearly half of the growth in CO2 emissions associated with consumption habits from 1990 to 2015 – with the richest 5 per cent responsible for more than a third. A scientific assessment from the Cambridge Sustainability Commission on Scaling Behaviour argues that it is the wealthiest in society who must do the most to reduce the size of their carbon footprints – and that governments must introduce measures to ensure this happens. The commission included the opinions of 31 climate and policy experts from countries including the UK, US, Japan and Kenya.
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