Oxfam analysis: “Investment emissions are the most significant part of a billionaire’s carbon footprint”, dwarfing jet & yacht emissions. “40% of the billionaire investments are in highly polluting industries: oil, mining, shipping, and cement.”
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Discussion 3 comments
Carbon emissions are bad. We should reduce them.
Inequality is bad. We should have less billionaires.
I don't see how they are inextricably linked. We do not need to solve income inequality in order to reduce emissions. Sure 1% of the world produces all the jet emissions. If we made more equal where 99% of the world produced the same emissions, we'd still have the same amount of CO2. If a billionaire divested in all carbon producing firms and only had solar or electric in the portfolio, would that still be fair? Linking these two issues unlikely helps either cause.
This kinda seems like double counting.
If I fly on a plane for vacation, is the CO2 emitted attributed to?
a) me, as the benefactor of the vacation
b) oil companies, as the produce of the jetfuel
c) stock owners of the oil companies & airline
Their proposed remedy is to charge a higher wealth tax for highly polluting investments. If the end result is that billionaires sell those stocks & investments, then it's just the regular rich, unaffected by the wealth tax, that will buy them. Doesn't seem like any incentives would change.
Can't like, so saying "like" here.
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