Irish Examiner view: Richest 1% also part of the polluter elite

The seemingly never-ending disparity between the haves and the have-nots has come into even sharper focus recently

The 1%, made up of 77m people who are billionaires, millionaires, or who earn over $140,000 (€128,000), were responsible for 5.9bn tonnes of CO2 in 2019 alone.

The seemingly never-ending disparity between the haves and the have-nots of this world has come into even sharper focus recently, with the revelation that the richest 1% account for more carbon emissions than 66% of its poorest people.

This unseemly discrepancy is bad enough when you consider the wealth gap between the super-rich and those in abject poverty, but when it becomes clear that we not only have a monetary elite but also a polluter elite, then the need to find solutions becomes imperative.