How the west can really help tackle the ‘climate crisis’

Researchers at the university of Leeds have published a study claiming that rich people use more energy than poor people; or as the BBC have it, “Climate change: The rich are to blame”. That article contains the rather obvious point that: ‘The researchers found that the richer people became, the more energy they typically use. And it was replicated across all countries.’

The inevitable consequence of having money is that you spend it. And it’s hard to think of anything that you can spend money on that doesn’t involve energy. Any sort of travel, obviously, whether that’s taking a private jet to Cannes, a Ryanair flight to Prague or just driving to the coast. Any goods that you purchase required energy to make and may well require energy to run. The more often you can afford to buy new clothes, the more energy will be consumed. If you have a bigger house, the heating (or air conditioning) will use more energy.