Richest 1% in the Middle East and North Africa emit more than twice as much carbon pollution as the poorest half of the population

The richest 1 percent in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region were responsible for 26 percent of carbon emissions in 2022, while the poorest half of the population were responsible for only 10 percent of emissions, an Oxfam report released today has found.

The report, Not Everyone is in the Same Boat; Climate and Inequality in the Middle East and North Africa, draws on research by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and Oxfam and shows how those who contribute the least to the climate crisis suffer the consequences of climate breakdown the most, increasing their risk of water scarcity, food insecurity, and displacement.

The picture is even gloomier when it comes to the super-rich. On average, a person in the richest 0.1 percent in the region emitted a staggering 477 times more carbon than someone in the poorest half in 2022, the most recent year for which data are available.

The region is both home to some of the richest people in the world with the most lavish lifestyles on the planet, and yet also to some of the poorest. These mega-emitters who overwhelmingly fuel the destruction of the climate can shield themselves from most of the worse impacts, however more vulnerable communities lack the resources to adapt and consequently are bearing the brunt of worsening heatwaves, drought, desertification and food shortages.  

“The extravagant, and polluting lifestyle of the regions richest is for all to see. This unchecked accumulation of massive and untaxed levels of wealth is not only driving the region’s inequality crisis, but also driving its climate crisis” said Oxfam MENA Regional Director Sally Abi Khalil.

“The region’s wealthiest drive climate change and must be made to pay for the breakdown to which they are contributing to with their polluting investments and unsustainable lifestyles, while the rest endure the consequences of their actions”.

The reports key findings show:

• Richest 0.1 percent (496,000 people) emit as much as the poorest 50% (248 million people). What an average billionaire in the region emits in a normal working day, through their use of superyachts and private jets, is equal to what an average person in the region emits in an entire year.
• Five of the region’s billionaires flew in their private jets for 1,300 hours, the equivalent of circumnavigating the world over 42 times.
• In 2019, The richest 1 per cent in the MENA region were responsible for 25 percent of the region’s carbon emissions, dwarfing the 16 per cent contributions of the worlds more affluent 1 per cent.

The outsized emissions of the richest are accelerating the climate crisis that will cause water shortages, land degradation, loss of arable farmland, rising sea levels, and epidemics in a region where 83% of the population already face water scarcity. Egypt’s 40 golf courses consume up to 1 billion cubic meters of water annually, enough to supply 54 million people with 50 liters of water per day in a country gripped by chronic water shortages.

MENA has just one per cent of the worlds’ renewable freshwater sources, meanwhile the pools and lush, large, gardens of the rich soak up massive amounts of water the poorest people are often forced to rely on shared water sources for their most basic needs.

The richest countries in the region, not only individuals, also rank among the world’s top emitters per capita. Oil-producing Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar have generated immense wealth for a small elite. In 2022, Saudi Arabia, with a population of 32 million, produced 34 percent of the region’s total greenhouse emissions, while Sudan, with a population of 50 million people, was responsible for close to zero.

The report also found that decades of austerity policies and sustained public spending cuts have exacerbated both the climate and inequality crises. As a result, governments are either unwilling or unable invest to meaningfully address the climate emergency.  

While the richest 1% in MENA hold 48% of financial wealth, tax evasion, exemptions and privileges for these elites further drain public funds needed for climate action, climate adaptation, and mitigation.

“Without urgent and bold policies targeting these riches and the profound inequality they entrench, the MENA region will continue to hurtle deeper into climate catastrophe,” added Abi Khalil.

“We must tax the rich and curb their polluting investments for the benefit of the region and the planet.”

The report calls on governments to undertake sweeping, redistributive actions, including progressive wealth and carbon taxes, a ban on luxury emissions like private jets, and the end of harmful, inequality breeding austerity policies in order to generate the estimated $570 billion needed for climate adaptation and mitigation.