Logically, wealthy people are higher consumers. They buy more stuff, they use more electricity because usually they live in spacious homes that need heating, and, most of the time, they have big families. All of these factors contribute to more greenhouse gas emissions, which, as we all know, trap and hold heat into the atmosphere. Subsequently, this causes climate change.
The Carbon Footprint of Wealthy People
A few years ago, a study conducted by Oxfam showed that rich people’s impact on the environment is much more negative than that of poor individuals. In the survey, it was pointed out that people from the lower class are responsible for less than 10% of the carbon footprint in the world. Wealthy individuals, however, were said to have contributed to an increase of carbon dioxide emissions 11 times more than poor people.
In 2018, Stefan Gössling, a Swedish academic who has specialized in sustainable tourism, carried out another survey focused on wealthy people’s carbon footprint. He investigated well-known celebrities, such as George Clooney, Bill Gates, and Paris Hilton. During Gössling and his team’s research, they concluded that Bill Gates is responsible for tons of greenhouse gas emissions due to the fact...