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Ten years after the Paris Agreement, the super-rich are widening the emissions gap and putting world on track for catastrophe

In response to the UNEP Emissions Gap Report published today, Nafkote Dabi, Climate Policy Lead at Oxfam, said:  

“Just days before global leaders arrive in Brazil for COP30, this report is a blaring siren calling for greater climate action.   

“Since the Paris Agreement, the richest 1% have used up more than twice the carbon budget of the poorest half of humanity. This inequality is more than unjust—it’s deadly. The extreme emissions of the richest people and countries are burning through the little remaining the amount of CO2 that can be emitted while avoiding climate disaster. Meanwhile, the poorest communities suffer the most devastating impacts.  

“Governments cannot close the emissions gap without slashing the carbon footprint of the super-rich and addressing extreme inequality. COP30 must be a turning point. Global leaders must cut the emissions of the richest, tax rich polluters and their profits, and deliver a just transition—one that creates decent green jobs, builds resilient economies, and puts people and planet before profit.”  

Notes to editors

The latest Oxfam report, “Climate Plunder: How a powerful few are locking the world into disaster”, presents new data which finds that a person from the richest 0.1% produces more carbon pollution in a day than the poorest 50% emit all year. If everyone emitted like the richest 0.1%, the carbon budget would be used up in less than 3 weeks.  

The “UN Emissions Gap report: Off Target” finds that global warming projections over this century, based on full implementation of updated government climate pledges, are 2.3-2.5°C, while those based on current policies are 2.8°C.

Contact information:

For more details, please contact: 

Rachel Schaevitz, Head of Communication, Media, & Advocacy: [email protected]

A person from the richest 0.1% produces more carbon pollution in a day than someone in the bottom 50% produces all year

  • Since 1990, the richest 0.1% have increased their share of total emissions by 32%, whilst the poorest half of humanity have actually seen their share fall by 3%.

  • If everyone emitted carbon like the richest 0.1%, the carbon budget – the amount of CO2 that can be emitted while avoiding climate disaster – would be used up in less than 3 weeks.

  • To stay within the limits of the 1.5°C threshold, the richest 0.1% would need to cut their per capita emissions by 99% by 2030. 

  • A person from the world’s richest 0.1% emits over 800 kg of CO2 every day. Even the strongest person on earth could not lift this much. In contrast, someone from the poorest 50% of the world emits an average of just 2 kg of CO2 per day, which even a small child could lift.

Ahead of the major international climate conference COP30 in Belem, Brazil, new Oxfam research finds that the high-carbon lifestyles of the super-rich are blowing through the world’s remaining carbon budget – the amount of CO2 that can be emitted while avoiding climate disaster. The research also details how billionaires are using their political and economic influence to keep humanity hooked on fossil fuels to maximize their private profit. 

The report, “Climate Plunder: How a powerful few are locking the world into disaster”, presents extensive new updated data and analysis which finds that a person from the richest 0.1% produces more carbon pollution in a day than the poorest 50% emit all year. If everyone emitted like the richest 0.1%, the carbon budget would be used up in less than 3 weeks. 

The super-rich are not just overconsuming carbon, but also actively investing in and profiting from the most polluting corporations. Oxfam’s research finds that the average billionaire produces 1.9 million tonnes of CO2e a year through their investments. These billionaires would have to circumnavigate the world almost 10,000 times in their private jets to emit this much. Almost 60% of billionaire investments are classified as being in high climate impact sectors such as oil or mining, meaning their investments emit two and a half times more than an average investment in the S&P Global 1,200. The emissions of the investment portfolios of just 308 billionaires total more than the combined emissions of 118 countries. 

“The climate crisis is an inequality crisis. The very richest individuals in the world are funding and profiting from climate destruction, leaving the global majority to bear the fatal consequences of their unchecked power,” said Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International. 

The power and wealth of super-rich individuals and corporations have also allowed them to wield unjust influence over policymaking and water down climate negotiations. At COP29, 1,773 coal, oil, and gas lobbyists were granted badges, more than the 10 most climate-vulnerable nations combined. Multiple rich and high-emitting countries including the US, UK, France and Germany have watered down climate laws after large donations from anti-climate lobbyists.   

“It is a travesty that power and wealth have been allowed to accumulate in the hands of a few, who are only using it to further entrench their influence and lock us all into a path to planetary destruction. The super-rich and the corporations they run have a deadly track record of bankrolling lobbyists, spreading climate disinformation, and suing NGOs and governments that try to stand in their way. We must break the chokehold of the super-rich over climate policy by taxing their extreme wealth, banning their lobbying and instead put those most affected by the climate crisis in the front seat of climate decision-making,” said Behar. 

The emissions of the richest 1% are enough to cause an estimated 1.3 million heat-related deaths by the end of the century, as well as $44 trillion of economic damage to low- and lower-middle-income countries by 2050. The impacts of these climate damages will disproportionately impact those who have done the least to cause the climate crisis, particularly people living in the Global South, women, girls and Indigenous groups. 

COP30 marks ten years since the Paris Agreement in 2015. During this period, the world’s richest 1% have burnt through more than twice as much of the carbon budget than the poorest half of humanity combined 

Ahead of COP30, Oxfam calls on governments to cut the emissions and dismantle the political and economic power of the super-rich through: 

  • Slashing the emissions of the super-rich and make the richest polluters pay, through taxation on extreme wealth, excess profits taxes on fossil fuel corporations, and supporting the UN Convention on International Tax Cooperation. A 60% tax on the total incomes of the richest 1% globally could cut carbon emissions equivalent to the total emissions of the UK and generate in the region of $6.4 trillion.

  • Curbing the economic and political influence of the richest by banning fossil fuel corporations from climate negotiations such as COP, implementing sustainability regulations for corporations and financial institutions, and rejecting trade and investment agreements like investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS) that put the interests of the super-wealthy above public good.

  • Strengthening the participation of civil society and Indigenous groups in climate negotiations and address the unequal impacts of climate change.

  • Adopting a fair-share approach to the remaining climate budget by committing to nationally determined contributions (NDCs) that reflect historical responsibility and capacity to act, and ensuring rich countries deliver ambitious climate finance.

  • Building an equal economic system that puts people and planet first by rejecting dominant neoliberal economics and moving towards an economy based on sustainability and equality. 

Notes to editors

Download – Climate Plunder: How a powerful few are locking the world into disaster

The Stockholm Environment Institute’s Emissions Inequality Dashboard is also available for consultation. 

Oxfam has launched a global petition to Make Rich Polluters Pay. 

Contact information:

Rachel Schaevitz, Head of Communication, Media, & Advocacy: [email protected]

Climate Plunder: How a powerful few are locking the world into disaster

Ahead of the major international climate conference COP30 in Belem, Brazil, new Oxfam research finds that the high-carbon lifestyles of the super-rich are blowing through the world’s remaining carbon budget – the amount of CO2 that can be emitted while avoiding climate disaster. The research also details how billionaires are using their political and economic influence to keep humanity hooked on fossil fuels to maximize their private profit.

The report, Climate Plunder: How a powerful few are locking the world into disaster, presents extensive new updated data and analysis which finds that a person from the richest 0.1% produces more carbon pollution in a day than the poorest 50% emit all year. If everyone emitted like the richest 0.1%, the carbon budget would be used up in less than 3 weeks.

View report here – Climate Plunder: How a powerful few are locking the world into disaster

Contact information:

For more details, please contact: [email protected]

Ten years on from the Paris Agreement, rich countries’ pitiful climate targets fall drastically short

In response to the latest Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) synthesis report published yesterday, Nafkote Dabi, Climate Lead at Oxfam, said:

“Ten years on from the Paris Agreement, we now see revealed a damning indictment of the collective failure of global leaders to address the climate crisis. The richest and most polluting countries have betrayed the people being hit the hardest by climate disasters, particularly those in low-income countries, Indigenous people and women.

Countries’ climate plans will reduce global emissions by just 10% by 2035, far short of what is needed. Science is clear: emissions must fall by at least 60% from 2019 levels in order to avoid climate breakdown. The EU has failed to even submit a new NDC while the US has withdrawn totally from the Paris Agreement and is slashing its already minimal climate finance.”

Oxfam Aotearoa’s Climate Justice Lead, Nick Henry, added: “”Despite the global need to strengthen climate action, New Zealand is not even on track to meet our existing commitments. We need our leaders in Government to show us a plan for real action to keep their promises and reduce emissions.”

Nafkote Dabi continued, “China’s first emissions reduction target of 7-10% from peak levels by 2035 is a step forward but still falls short of aligning with global climate goals. Brazil, host of COP30, despite being a climate leader, continues to approve new oil exploration in the heart of the Amazon – a contradiction that undermines its credibility.

The COP30 Summit next month must put humanity onto a safer path by insisting that world leaders deliver much bolder and more equitable NDCs than the inconsistent and inadequate collection that currently sit on its table. Central to any progress must be the tackling the extreme carbon pollution of the super-rich: the emissions of the 1% alone are predicted to cause 1.3 million heat-related deaths by the end of the century, and blow through the world’s remaining carbon budget.

The richest countries and richest people are locking the world into a catastrophic trajectory which COP30 must arrest.”

Notes to editors:

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world’s highest court, has confirmed that countries have a legal obligation to reduce emissions enough to protect the universal rights to life, food, health, and a clean environment.

Research by Oxfam International and CARE Climate Justice Centre finds that two thirds of climate finance is currently in the form of loans, increasing the debt burden on poor countries, which stands at $3.3 trillion. The $100 billion annual commitment agreed at COP15 remains unmet, and the $1.3 trillion needed for mitigation and adaptation has also not been delivered.

Research by Oxfam International finds that the energy consumed by the wealthiest 1% – predominantly in the Global North – alone would be enough to meet the basic energy needs of people without electricity access seven times over.

Research by the United Nations finds that emissions cuts of 42 per cent are needed by 2030 and 57 per cent by 2035 to get the world on track for 1.5°C. 

Contact information:

For more details, please contact: [email protected]

Mounting alarm as Israeli authorities reject NGO applications to transport life-saving aid into Gaza

41 organizations operating on the ground in Gaza call on the Government of Israel to uphold its commitments under the ceasefire agreement and international law and let humanitarian aid flow freely. Since the ceasefire began, Israeli authorities have continued to arbitrarily reject shipments of life-saving assistance into Gaza, while a restrictive new INGO registration process further delays urgent humanitarian work. 


Between 10 and 21 of October 2025, 17 INGOs have had urgent shipments of aid, including water, food, tents and medical supplies denied entry into Gaza. 94% of all rejections by Israeli authorities were given to INGOs. Three-quarters of these denials were issued on the grounds that organizations are “not authorized” to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza. This includes agencies that continue to have long-standing INGO registration with Palestinian and Israeli authorities and are legally permitted to operate by the latter while new registration processes are ongoing. 

These humanitarian organizations are not new or untested actors. They are trusted agencies, operating in Gaza for decades. Such targeted exclusions are a clear indication that Israeli authorities are continuing to restrict and politicize aid in breach of both the terms and spirit of the ceasefire agreement.

Supplies are packaged, staff are equipped and ready to respond at scale. What we need now is access. Israeli authorities must uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law and the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

Between 10 and 21 October, 99 requests by international NGOs to deliver aid into Gaza were rejected, while six requests submitted by the UN agencies were denied. Aid denied by Israeli authorities includes tents and tarpaulins, blankets, mattresses, food and nutrition supplies, hygiene kits, sanitation materials, assistive devices, and children’s clothing, all of which should be unrestricted during the ceasefire. 

As of the end of September, three in four of the approval requests Israel has rejected were submitted by INGOs. These rejections have increased since the total siege began in March and Israel introduced the new INGO registration system. 

The announcement of a ceasefire was welcomed as a critical moment of relief for Palestinian civilians, yet reports of renewed violations highlight its fragility. The continued rejection of aid entry is deeply alarming. After more than two years of relentless and continued bombardments — with dozens killed in the past week alone — and the resulting deprivation, forced displacement, and starvation, blocking humanitarian expertise and supplies undermines the collective effort to save lives.

Almost $50 million worth of essential goods from operational INGOs — food, medical supplies, hygiene items, and shelter materials — remain stockpiled at crossings and warehouses, unable to reach those in need. Palestinians in Gaza are now bracing for winter, many in makeshift shelters without insulation, heating, clean water, or toilet facilities. Time is running out, without immediate, unimpeded access, preventable deaths will rise.

The restrictions are depriving Palestinians from lifesaving aid and undermining coordination of the response system in Gaza which relies on collaboration between local organizations, national institutions, UN agencies and international NGOs.

Humanitarian access is a legal obligation under international law, not a concession of the ceasefire. The ceasefire must ensure a lasting end to hostilities and guarantee the free, safe, principled and sustained flow of aid in line with Palestinians rights to safety, dignity, and self-determination. Anything less risks turning relief into yet another broken promise. Israel’s new registration system must be rescinded to allow aid to move freely, unimpeded and unrestricted.

Signatory organizations operational in Gaza directly or through partners:

  1. ACS Associazione Cooperazione e Solidarieta’

  2. Action Against Hunger (ACF)

  3. Action For Humanity

  4. ActionAid Denmark

  5. ActionAid International

  6. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)

  7. CESVI Fondazione – ETS

  8. CISS – Cooperazione Internazionale Sud Sud

  9. DanChurchAid

  10. Diakonia

  11. Finn Church Aid

  12. Glia

  13. HEKS/EPER(Swiss Church Aid)

  14. HelpAge International

  15. Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International

  16. Humanity First UK

  17. IDEALS

  18. Islamic Relief Worldwide

  19. Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC)

  20. Médecins du Monde International Network (MdM)

  21. Médecins Sans Frontières

  22. MedGlobal

  23. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)

  24. Medico International

  25. Mennonite Central Committee

  26. NORWAC-Norwegian Aid Committee

  27. Norwegian Church Aid

  28. Norwegian People’s Aid

  29. Norwegian Refugee Council

  30. Oxfam

  31. Palestinian Medical Relief Society

  32. People in Need

  33. Plan International

  34. Première Urgence Internationale

  35. Secours Islamique France (SIF)

  36. Terre des Hommes Italy

  37. Terre des hommes Lausanne

  38. The Center for Mind Body Medicine –  CMBM

  39. The Middle East Children’s Alliance

  40. War Child Alliance

  41. Welthungerhilfe

Contact information:

For more information, please contact [email protected]

Yemen’s Escalating Hunger Crisis: Nearly Half the Population Struggles to Find Enough Food

Recent data reveals that Yemen is now the world’s third biggest food crisis,[1] with half of its population facing hunger, and nearly half of all children under five suffering from chronic malnutrition.[2] On World Food Day, international and national organizations in Yemen are calling for urgent action to address the escalating hunger crisis in the country.

Yemen is facing an alarming humanitarian emergency, with an increasing number of people deprived of food and one in three families facing moderate to severe hunger. Over 100 districts now face a critical nutrition emergency, an unprecedented increase in malnutrition levels across the country.[3] In Abs District, Hajjah, children have died of starvation as malnutrition rates soared, while in Al Hodeida and Taiz, a projected 15 – 30 percent rise in acute malnutrition is expected by the end of the year.[4]

The situation is rapidly deteriorating. By early 2026, over 18 million people across Yemen are expected to face crisis levels of hunger, including approximately 41,000 at risk of famine.[5]

Across the country, families are now being driven into impossible choices — parents are skipping meals so their children can eat, selling off land, livestock, or their few belongings just to survive. As a mother from Al Dhale’ shared: “There are days when I send my daughter to her grandfather’s house just so she can eat, while I go without. On other days, we eat just bread and drink tea. As a mother, it breaks me.”

The impacts of the current crisis are intergenerational. Children are among the hardest hit — losing not only their health, as hunger robs them of their physical and cognitive development, increasing lifelong health risks, but also their hopes for the future. As families struggle to survive, many have been forced to take their children out of school, send them to work, or marry them off early, exposing them to further risks.

DRIVING FACTORS

Conflict, economic collapse, climate shocks and water scarcity are pushing Yemen towards famine. Years of war and displacement have eroded livelihoods, limiting access to basic health and nutrition services. As is more often the case, women and girls have been disproportionately affected. Now recovery efforts are stalling with rising food prices, currency devaluation and economic fragmentation pushing millions deeper into crisis. The latest floods this August are a stark example of how climate change is limiting the availability of food, destroying farmland, livestock, and other essential sources of sustenance.

While conditions are challenging across Yemen, in northern governorates, the ongoing detention of humanitarian staff has further obstructed lifesaving aid operations. The restriction of movement imposed on female Yemeni aid workers, which prevents them from travelling without male guardians, also continues to impede humanitarian delivery and limits the ability of vulnerable women and girls to access humanitarian services.

Unprecedented global aid cuts in 2025 have further driven hunger and child malnutrition to deadly levels.[6] Funding cuts have forced the shutdown of over 2,800 lifesaving treatment services, representing nearly half of all lifesaving nutrition programming.[7] Nearly all supply pipelines, which serve millions of malnourished children, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women, are under severe strain. Despite rising needs, Yemen’s food security and nutrition responses are at its lowest in a decade, with barely 10 percent of funding needs met.[8]

Taking Effective Solutions Further

Over the past decade, international and local organizations in Yemen have helped prevent famine from taking hold and saved countless lives. With the support of donors we have restored irrigation systems, provided cash assistance and vocational training to help families rebuild their livelihoods. These efforts have kept children nourished, supported parents to earn an income, and revived small-scale farming. However, without sustained, long-term investment, the tide will turn. More districts are at imminent risk of sliding into catastrophic levels of malnutrition [9] without urgent funding and supplies.

Donors Must Step Up

As the world marks World Food Day, the international community must scale up support for proven solutions to allow humanitarian actors to tackle Yemen’s worsening hunger crisis, protect children and families and prevent increased suffering. Equally important is addressing the root causes of Yemen’s food insecurity: an end to the conflict which requires meaningful progress in the peace process and robust recovery efforts, including stabilization of the economy and investments in climate resilient agriculture and livelihoods. Only through a combined effort — linking immediate life-saving support with long-term political and economic solutions — can Yemenis rebuild their lives.

We call on:

  • Donors and international partners to fund immediate food security and livelihood needs identified in the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster hyper-prioritized plan,[10] with a focus on hotspot districts and the restoration of critical supply pipelines. Support will enable lifesaving nutrition services, including the continued operation of therapeutic feeding centers and access to essential treatment supplies.

  • Donors and international partners to increase investment in national organizations as a critical effort towards advancing the localization agenda, while ensuring communities are supported faster and more effectively.

  • Donors and international partners to jointly advocate for principled humanitarian access across Yemen, facilitating the timely delivery of targeted and complementary food, nutrition and cash assistance.

  • Donors and international partners to urgently ensure that humanitarian programs across Yemen integrate measures to safeguard vulnerable communities, particularly women and children, addressing the rising risks they face due to the escalating hunger crisis, including forced child labor, early marriage, and school dropout

  • Development donors to invest in robust disaster risk management strategies. Resilient infrastructure and community preparedness initiatives, including social transfers, are critical to minimize risks of climate change and protect the most vulnerable populations.

  • Parties to the conflict must facilitate principled and unhindered humanitarian access to ensure the timely delivery of lifesaving assistance, and the recovery of their communities from severe hunger and malnutrition. All arbitrarily detained humanitarian workers should be released, and the safety and continuity of humanitarian operations should be ensured.

  • Parties to the conflict, with the support of the international community, to take steps towards peace efforts including economic relief measures – such as resuming public sector salary payments, restoring banking operations, and curbing currency depreciation – to reduce the drivers of hunger and enable families to afford food and basic needs.

Signed by:

Action Contre la Faim (ACF) Action for Humanity
Aden Foundation for Arts and Sciences (ADEN-FAS) Al-Ahlam Foundation for Developmental Medicine
All Girls Foundation For Development (AGF)
Al-Nabras Foundation for Human Development Altwasul for Human Development
CARE
Child and Youth Protection Foundation (CYPF) Center For Civilians In Conflict (CIVIC)
Danish Refugee Council (DRC) Deem for Development Organization Direct Aid (DA)
Dorcas
FARHM Network for Peace and Development (network of 10 Yemeni organizations) Field Medical
Foundation (FMF)
For Human Development Foundation (FHD) Generations Without Qat (GWQ)
Geneva Call
Human Access for Partnership and Development International Medical Corps
International Rescue Committee (IRC) INTERSOS
Joud Al Ata a Foundation Humanity Development (JAFHD) Médecins du Monde (MdM)
Medglobal
Mona Relief and Development Organization (Mona Relief)
Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA)
OXFAM
Relief & Development Peer Foundation (RDP) Relief International (RI)
Save the Children
Secours Islamique France (SIF)
Society for Humanitarian Solidarity (SHS) Solidarités International (SI)
SOUL for Development (SOUL)
War Child Alliance

—

*[1]. Mr. Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator – Briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Yemen, 15 September 2025 | OCHA
[2] Approximately 18.1 million people are facing hunger and 49% of children under 5 are facing chronic malnutrition, Nutrition Cluster, Oct 2025.
[3] Nutrition Cluster, Oct 2025.
[4] Nutrition Cluster, Oct 2025.
[5] Food insecurity levels are based on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), where Phase 3 indicates crisis levels of food insecurity and Phase 5 indicates catastrophic or famine conditions. IPC projects Phase [5] (Catastrophic) conditions in four districts within Amran, Al Hodeidah and Hajjah governorates.
[6] IPC projections from Sept 2025 – Feb 2026 mark a record-high number of areas classified in Phase 4 (Emergency).
[7] 377 Outpatient Therapeutic Program (OTP) sites, 2,376 Targeted Supplementary Feeding Program (TSFP) sites, 77 mobile teams, and 21 Therapeutic Feeding Centers (TFCs) have closed due to a shortfall in funds (Nutrition Cluster, Oct 2025).
[8] Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan 2025. https://fts.unocha.org/plans/1262/global-clusters.
[9] IPC Acute Malnutrition (AMN) Phase 5.
[10] Yemen Food Security and Agriculture hyper-prioritized response plan, July- Dec 2025. https://fscluster.org/yemen/document/yemen-fsac-hyper-prioritized-response.

Notes to Editors

  • Data from assessments conducted in Taiz, Al Dhae’e, Abyan and Al Hodiedah in August 2025, reveal that half of all households with children under five had at least one malnourished child during the last three months, while 1 in 4 households had at least one malnourished pregnant or lactating woman (PLW) during the same period.

  • Malnourished children are about ten times more likely to die from common illnesses than well-nourished children, leaving them at risk of stunting—a form of chronic malnutrition that impairs normal physical and cognitive development—along with irreversible developmental delays, lifelong health struggles, and diminished prospects for the future. Without treatment, their bodies enter full starvation, breaking down protein—the essential tissue needed for survival—until they slowly and painfully die. Yemen’s future generation is at risk, and assistance must reach them as soon as possible. 

Contact information

For more details, please contact: [email protected]