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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Fiona Harvey

SHOCKING: Enormous emissions gap between top 1 and poorest study highlights | Mind Blowing Facts

Couple toasting on plane
It would take 26 years for a low earner to produce as much carbon dioxide as the richest do in a year, according to Autonomy’s analysis of income and greenhouse gas data from 1998 to 2018. Photograph: Getty Images

The top 1% of earners in the UK are responsible for the same amount of carbon dioxide emissions in a single year as the bottom 10% over more than two decades, new data has shown.

The findings highlight the enormous gaps between what have been termed “the polluting elite”, whose high-carbon lifestyles fuel the climate crisis, and the majority of people, even in developed countries, whose carbon footprints are far smaller.

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