Are the richest 1 per cent really to blame for climate change?

Oxfam used to be a worthy charity through which donors in wealthy countries could help fund famine relief in developing countries over-run by natural disasters. That was before it evolved into a left-wing pressure group sandwiched somewhere between Extinction Rebellion and Black Lives Matter. It’s latest report, Climate Equality: a Planet for the 99 per cent, is a real eye-opener.

The chief claim in the report is that the richest 1 per cent of the global population are responsible for as many carbon emissions as the poorest 66 per cent. This sounds very dramatic until you read the small print and realise that both groups are responsible for 16 per cent of global emissions each. The remaining 68 per cent of emissions are produced by people who nestle between the 67th and 99th percentile on the global scale of wealth.

But never mind, it is the 1 per cent who have attracted Oxfam’s ire.