Numerous studies have shown that the richest are also the biggest polluters. An independent British charity investigated to see if this was true in rural areas. Unsurprisingly, the people most likely to pollute are those with higher incomes.
To carry out its study, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) assessed the greenhouse gas emissions of residents of Great Britain based on income, gender, place of residence, ethnic origin and their age. Transport emissions included in the study include those from international and domestic flights, private road transport and public transport.
The results reveal that the richest 0.1% of Britons emit 22 times more greenhouse gases than those on lower incomes, and 12 times more than the average person. In detail, people who earn more than 100,000 pounds (i.e. around 117,000 euros) per year travel on average at least double the annual distance compared to those whose income is less than 30,000 pounds (i.e. around 35 000 euros) per year. According to the study, half of all transport emissions in Britain come from one in five people (15%) and the most polluting 10% of the population are responsible for 42% of all emissions. to transport.
Conversely, people of non-white British ethnicity tend to travel less far and emit fewer greenhouse gases. “People in the most disadvantaged 10% are responsible for by far the fewest emissions, even though flying accounts for more than half of their total emissions,” the researchers note.
“It is those who are better off financially who must make the most effort”
The study also reveals that men are more likely to be heavy emitters than women, because the latter are more likely to travel by car and plane. People aged between 35 and 64 are also those who travel the most. “Our transportation system reflects and contributes to social inequalities. Reducing emissions can address some of this injustice, if done equitably. But while not everyone needs to make the same changes, it's those who are better off financially who need to make the most effort“, underlines Maya Singer Hobbs, research fellow at IPPR.
To reduce these emissions, the IPPR recommends several measures including the introduction of new taxes on private jets (including an increase in air passenger duties and a tax on kerosene) and a return to the ban on purchasing new internal combustion engine vehicles for 2030.
“By putting citizens at the heart of our approach to reducing Britain's climate impacts, we demonstrate both who is best placed to reduce their emissions at the pace needed and how this can help tackle injustice under – underlying of those for whom the transport system currently works“, supports Stephen Frost, senior researcher at IPPR.