The world’s biggest billionaire climate hackers are accelerating global warming – Reuters

Chelsea FC owner pumps as much Co2 into the atmosphere as a third of a million Rwandans, analysis shows amid warning billionaires around the world are ‘looting the planet’.

The biggest billionaire carbon thieves have been revealed in an analysis that puts Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich at the top of the pile.

Steaming the Mediterranean in his super yacht – one of the largest in the world – and flying in a private plane with a 30-seat dining area, the 55-year-old dumps 33,859 tons of CO2 in the atmosphere every year, according to Ecowatch.

That’s 4,200 times more than the average Brit.

This month, Oxfam, launching a separate study, warned that billionaires like Abramovich must drastically reduce their personal greenhouse gas emissions if the world is to avoid catastrophic climate change.

The charity has calculated that the luxury yacht sailing at 1% will account for 16% of total emissions by 2030, up from 13% in 1990 and 15% of emissions in 2015.

While the average Brit needs to cut their greenhouse gas output by two thirds to stay in line with keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees, the 1% need a 30x reduction on average .

Some have to follow a much larger emissions diet. Here we reveal the world’s biggest carbon scavengers.

Roman Abramovich – 33,000 metric tons of Co2 per year

The oil and gas trader has an estimated fortune of £14billion and one of the biggest personal carbon footprints in the world, if not the biggest.

Abramovich cruises the Mediterranean in his superyacht the Eclipse, which at 162.5 meters from bow to stern is the second largest in the world, according to Super Yacht Fan.

Additionally, he has the most expensive bespoke superyacht ever built – the Solaris – which has a helipad, swimming pool and 48 cabins, and is worth almost £500million.

The oligarch also owns a Boeing 767 with a 30-seat dining area for long trips, a Gulfstream G650 jet for shorter trips, two helicopters and a submarine on his yacht.

When not traveling in luxury, Abramovich resides in one of his many homes, including a mansion in Kensington Park Gardens in London, a chateau in Cap d’Antibes in France, and a 28-acre estate in Saint -Barth, according to the Daily Star.

With the average Rwandan producing just 0.1 tonnes of Co2 per year – one of the lowest per capita totals in the world – Abramovich is responsible for emitting the same amount of greenhouse gases into the air as 338,590 people.

That’s more than the total population of Cardiff.

The figure does not include emissions from Abramovich’s business or those produced during the production of his homes and vehicles, meaning the true total is likely much higher.

David Geffen – 18,000 metric tons of Co2 per year

Perhaps less well known to British audiences, David Geffen, 78, co-founded Asylum Records and is worth an estimated $10 billion.

Among its precious assets, the Rising Sun, a 138m yacht with a gym, a basketball court, a wine cellar and a cinema room among its 82 rooms.

He also has a nippy Gulfstream G650 private jet.

The American tycoon, who also co-founded Dreamworks, is a luxury real estate enthusiast, according to Forbes.

He owns one of the most expensive apartments in New York, a house in the Hamptons and the Jack L. Warner estate in Beverly Hills.

Bernard Arnault – 10,000 tons of Co2 per year

The French CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE is the third richest person in the world, with a fortune of $178.4 billion.

Her 101-metre, six-deck yacht Symphony comes complete with a secondary yacht, a 6-metre glass-bottom swimming pool on the main deck and an open-air cinema on deck.

For those looking to relax, it has a jacuzzi on the terrace and a sauna.

He also owns a Bombardier Global Express private jet, which is said to cost around £41million.

Arnault has been a vocal critic of Greta Thunberg, whom he has accused of “surrendering completely to catastrophism”.

“I prefer positive solutions that allow us to move towards a more optimistic position,” he added.

The eco-billionaires – Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk

Perhaps surprisingly, given their interest in the fuel-intensive world of space travel, the founders of Amazon and Tesla have relatively small carbon footprints, calculates EcoWatch.

Musk, born in South Africa, does not own a superyacht and claims not to go on vacation.

It has a relatively modest carbon footprint in 2018, thanks to its eight homes and a private jet, Ecowatch calculated.

This year, his carbon footprint would be even lower because in 2020 he sold all his houses.

American Bezos has similar emissions according to the study, largely because he does not own a private vessel.

However, he is likely to climb up the rankings soon, if the rumors he bought a £370m superyacht are true.

This month, Bezos pledged $2bn (£1.48bn) to restore nature and food systems at COP26, saying space travel had made him realize just how much the planet was fragile.

Oxfam’s report released this month says the carbon-starved lifestyles of billionaires are putting the world in “grave danger” from climate change.

Scientists say that to meet the target agreed at the Paris climate summit in 2015, every person on earth will need to limit their CO2 emissions to just 2.3 tonnes by 2030, around half the footprint. current average carbon.

The total emissions produced by the top 10% could be enough on their own to exceed the aligned level of 1.5 degrees in 2030, regardless of what the remaining 90% do, according to Oxfam’s study with the policy European Environmental Institute and the Stockholm Environment Institute. .

Jamie Livingstone, Director of Oxfam Scotland, said: “Luxurious lifestyles and the continued plunder of the planet by the world’s wealthiest people put us all at risk.

“The emissions from a single billionaire spaceflight would exceed the lifetime emissions of one of the poorest billions on the planet.

“No one is immune to the impact of the climate emergency, but it is the world’s poorest who are paying the heaviest price as they contribute the least to emissions as they fight climate change. floods, famines and cyclones.”

He demanded: “World leaders must agree on ways to cut excessive emissions and limit global heating and they must do it here and now in Glasgow. Any delay costs lives.”

Oxfam is calling on nations around the world to commit to cutting their emissions further by 2030, but also to ensure that the wealthiest people make the deepest cuts.

The charity argues that wealthier citizens could dramatically accelerate action on global warming not only by adopting greener lifestyles, but also by using their political influence and investments to drive a low-emissions economy. of carbon.

Tim Gore, author of the new study and head of the low-carbon and circular economy program at IEEP, said: “The global emissions gap to maintain the Paris target of 1.5° It is not the result of the consumption of most of the world’s inhabitants – rather it reflects the excessive emissions of only the wealthiest citizens of the planet.

“To close the emissions gap by 2030, governments need to target action on their richest and highest emitters – the climate and inequality crises must be tackled together.

“This includes both measures to limit luxury carbon consumption like mega yachts, private jets and space travel, and to curb climate-intensive investments like stocks in fossil fuel industries.”

But Professor Len Shackleton, of the Institute of Economic Affairs think tank, said: ‘Oxfam’s proposals are extremely dangerous in setting a precedent for governments to interfere in private activities based on vague claims about damage to the planet.

“While it’s no surprise that billionaires have a bigger carbon footprint than the rest of us, it’s also true that even the poorest person in the UK has a much bigger footprint than a poor person in sub-Saharan Africa.

“The same specious reasoning could be used to prohibit ordinary people from going on holiday abroad, driving a car, taking a bath instead of a shower, or eating meat.”

He added: ‘This is just another anti-rich ‘seeking’ piece of a charity that would be more committed to sticking to its original and laudable goals of fighting poverty, rather than engage in stunts like this.”

Roman Abramovich, David Geffen and Bernard Arnault have all been contacted for comment.

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