On wealthy people bear a large part of the responsibility for the climate crisis, according to a study at the University of Leeds, covering 86 countries.
British scientists found that in all these countries, a tenth of the population with the highest incomes consume about 20 times more energy than a tenth with the lowest income.
This is mainly because poor people are less likely to own transport and can't afford their own cars.
the Study showed that the richer a person is, the more energy it consumes, and this dependence exists in all the countries under consideration.
the report Authors also warned that if the government cannot substantially change a policy, by 2050 energy consumption will double compared with 2011.
Energy and transport
Using the data of the EU and the world Bank, researchers analyzed what groups of people with different income levels spend money.
it Turned out that in the category "transport" more than half of the energy consumes a tenth of people with high incomes. This corresponds to the results of another study, which showed that in the UK 70% of all air travel carries 15% of the population.
the super-rich to visit the most remote corners of the planet, whereas, for example, 57% of the population of Britain never fly abroad.
a Study published in the journal Nature Energy, showed that the gap in energy consumption during cooking and space heating in groups with different income was not significant. But even in this category on the richest 10% of consumers account for about a third of all energy used. Most likely, this is due to the size of their homes.
the Solution?
"How to change the situation with the uneven distribution of energy for everyone to live with dignity while protecting the climate and ecosystems?" asks Professor Julie Steinberger, head of research at the University of Leeds.
According to the authors of the project, governments can reduce the demand for private cars by improving public transport, higher taxes on large cars and the increase in tariffs for passengers flying more than others.
Another way, scientists believe, is to accelerate the transition to electric cars, although previous studies have shown that the demand for them still must be reduced, otherwise it will need too much resources for production and distribution of electricity.
What countries consume a lot of energy?
the Researchers also compared the energy consumption in different countries.
it Turned out that a fifth of Brits included in the 5% of the world's population, consume more energy. Together with 40% of the Germans and the entire population of Luxembourg.
Only 2% of the population of China and 0.02% of the population of India is included in those five percent of the world's major energy consumers.
the poorest part of the British consumes about five times more energy than a billion of the poorest people in India.
Normal life?
This study should affect the future climate negotiations in the UN where issues of social inequality always cause loud arguments.
In U.S. politics libertarian views depict climate change as a harbinger of global socialism.
Professor Kevin Anderson of Manchester was not involved in the study, believes that it should alert most ordinary Britons.
"This study tells us, wealthy people, what we don't want to hear" - said Mr. Anderson.
According to the study, global energy consumption just for transportation could increase by a third by 2050, and if the transport will continue to run on fossil fuels, for climate it would be a disaster, conclude scientists.
to reduce consumption of various types of energy, they offer a variety of activities at the level of governments. For drivers of large cars - to introduce higher taxes, and the house to modify by using energy-saving technologies.
