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Climate Crisis

Disaster Divide – How climate chaos deepens inequality and enriches the few

Read full report – Disaster Divide – How climate chaos deepens inequality and enriches the few here.

Billionaires and the super-rich are burning carbon at an extraordinary rate – the richest 0.1%, or 8 million people, have more emissions than the bottom 3.5 billion. The carbon pollution of the richest 1% is directly contributing to increased climate disasters such as floods, fires, droughts and food crises. Their yearly emissions will cause an estimated 1.9 million excess deaths from heat. 

In turn, these climate disasters are not experienced equally. Climate disasters drive up inequality and are also far more lethal because of it. Deaths from flooding, for example, are seven times higher in more unequal countries.

Rich people can insulate themselves, paying more for food or moving to safer places, whereas most people cannot. Moreover, Oxfam’s new research shows how the super-rich are also actually cashing in on climate pain – making huge profits from sky-high food prices and profiting from disasters. Meanwhile, ordinary people, hit by successive climate shocks, struggle to recover. They are more exposed, more vulnerable, and have less savings to rebuild their lives. 

It is possible to break this vicious circle. We can minimize the human harm of climate breakdown by reducing the emissions of the richest people, radically reducing inequality, and ensuring that actions to adapt to climate change have equality at their centre.

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Interviews are available, please reach out to [email protected]

Ultra-rich 0.1% produce more carbon pollution than nearly half of humanity while cashing in on the climate disasters they create

  • Person in the richest 0.1 percent has contributed nearly 400 times more to extreme heatwaves than someone in the poorest half of humanity.
  • Oxfam’s research shows that while the super-rich are responsible for a disproportionate share of carbon pollution, it is ordinary people who bear the brunt of the resulting floods, fires and famine.
  • Oxfam’s new “Destroy & Rebuild Index” exposes how super-rich investors backing fossil fuels and other high-polluting industries are also profiting from disaster preparedness and clean-up.
  • Oxfam urges governments to make rich polluters pay and end climate profiteering.

The world’s richest 0.1 percent (8 million people) produces more carbon pollution than the world’s poorest 3.5 billion people combined, reveals new Oxfam analysis. Published ahead of the UN climate summit (COP31) in Türkiye, the report exposes how the world’s super-rich are driving climate breakdown through their outsized emissions, while shielding themselves from the consequences and, increasingly, profiting from the destruction.

A person in the richest 0.1 percent has contributed nearly 400 times more to today’s extreme heatwaves than someone in the poorest 50 percent. Collectively, this small group of people produces over three times more carbon pollution than the entire population of Sub-Saharan Africa (1.3 billion people).

“The climate crisis is often described as a shared human challenge. It is not. Those who have done the least to cause it are losing their homes, their harvests and, increasingly, their lives. Meanwhile, the super-rich can buy their way out of danger – by retreating to high-tech underground survival bunkers, hiring private firefighting crews, and securing private insurance – and are actively profiting from the consequences of their pollution. This is not a tragedy of shared fate; it is a crime of extreme inequality,” said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar.

Combining carbon inequality data with cutting-edge climate attribution models, Oxfam has found that:

  • The richest 1 percent are responsible for 20 percent of global warming since 1990 – 100 times more, per person, than someone in the poorest half of humanity.
  • Just one year of emissions by the richest 1 percent will cause 1.9 million excess heat-related deaths. 78 percent of these deaths will occur in low- and lower-middle-income countries, despite these countries being responsible for 8 percent of global emissions.
  • The emissions of the richest 1 percent will cause nearly $53 trillion in damage by 2050.

Used exclusively by the super-rich, private aviation remains one of the clearest examples of extreme carbon inequality. New analysis by Oxfam of private jet tracking data finds that:

  • Combined, private jets emit more carbon pollution in two seconds than someone in the poorest half of humanity emits in a year.

While the super-rich are responsible for a disproportionate share of carbon pollution, it is ordinary people who bear the brunt of the resulting floods, fires and famine.

“Eight million people produce more carbon pollution than three and a half billion. In places like Tonga and Solomon Islands, families who did the least to cause this crisis are paying for it first, rebuilding after floods and droughts they had no hand in causing. That isn’t bad luck. It follows from who decides where emissions get cut and who pays. At COP31, New Zealand has a seat in that room. It should use it to back taxes on extreme wealth and fossil fuel profits, and push for climate finance that comes as grants, not more debt.” said Oxfam Aotearoa Executive Director Jason Myers.

The super-rich buy safety through private insurance and homes in safer, cooler places. For everyone else, climate disasters mean destroyed homes and crops, depleted savings, and lost livelihoods. This leaves people even more exposed when the next disaster hits, deepening the inequality that made them far more vulnerable to climate disasters in the first place. By 2050, as many as 1 billion people (around 10 percent of the world’s population) could be displaced by the climate crisis. Most of those displaced will be in the Global South.

Oxfam’s new Destroy & Rebuild Index identifies 217 corporations profiting from industries that fuel climate breakdown as well as disaster preparedness, recovery and reconstruction.

BlackRock and Vanguard are invested in 92 percent of the corporations in the index. Their combined investments total more than $1 trillion.

The report also warns that climate disasters are increasingly exploited to push policies that deepen inequality, including the privatization of climate action and public services, land grabs, deregulation and tax breaks benefiting the super-rich. The result is a vicious cycle of injustice: deaths from flooding are seven times higher in more unequal countries.

“The ultra-rich are setting the planet on fire and then charging the rest of us for the extinguishers,” said Behar. “They profit from the pollution. They profit from the disaster. And they profit again from the clean-up.” said Behar.

Oxfam is calling on governments meeting at COP31 to:

  • Make rich polluters pay to significantly and rapidly curb their carbon emissions, including through permanent wealth and income taxes, a permanent tax on fossil fuel corporations, and punitive taxes on high-emitting luxury items like private jets.
  • Substantially increase climate finance for the Global South, prioritizing public, grant-based finance rather than loans that deepen debt. The amount for adaptation should be tripled by 2035.
  • Radically reduce inequality within and between countries, including through climate-resilient public infrastructure and public services.
  • End profiteering from climate disasters. Governments need to curb corporate power in emergency response, reconstruction, and food systems during disasters.

/ENDS

Notes to editors

Download Oxfam’s report “Disaster Divide” and methodology note.

Oxfam’s analysis finds that 1.18 million or 78 percent of excess deaths due to heat will occur in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

Since 1990, carbon emissions from the richest 1 percent have caused global economic output to drop by $2.9 trillion. By 2050, this will rise to $52.6 trillion, equivalent to a 0.5 percent loss of global cumulative GDP over that period. The heaviest economic toll will fall on the countries least responsible for climate change.

According to the International Organization for Migration, as many as 1 billion people could be displaced by the climate crisis by 2050. The frequency and intensity of these events is rising as a direct result of climate change.

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Interviews are available, please reach out to [email protected]

Nepal’s catastrophic floods must be a wake-up call on climate action as death toll passes 1,000 warns Oxfam

  • A week on, search and rescue operations and humanitarian aid efforts are a desperate race against time.

  • Almost 4,000 people are missing, and some 50,000 people urgently need access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene.

  • Nepal produces just 0.1% of global emissions, yet communities are paying a devastating price as climate risks grow.

The catastrophic floods in Nepal are a stark warning of what a hotter world will mean for communities on the climate frontline and why governments and donors must invest now in climate resilience, adaptation and disaster preparedness, rather than waiting for the next disaster to strike, Oxfam has warned.

A week after the devastating floods, rescuers are still scrambling to reach people cut off by destroyed roads, bridges and landslides. Oxfam and local partners are racing to deliver life-saving assistance, but the scale of the destruction is making access to some of the worst-affected areas, particularly Rasuwa, increasingly difficult.

“Nepal contributes just 0.1% of global emissions, yet our communities are paying a devastating price as climate risks grow,” said Santosh Pandey, Oxfam in Nepal’s Humanitarian and Disaster Risk Management Lead.

“Nepal’s devastating floods should be a wake-up call for governments and donors. We cannot keep waiting for disasters to happen. In a burning world, climate shocks will become more frequent here and communities need the resources to prepare, adapt and become more resilient before the next disaster strikes.”

The Government of Nepal estimates that 10,000 households – around 50,000 people – require immediate access to clean water, toilets and hygiene, with thousands more in need of shelter and food.

Oxfam launched an emergency response a day after the floods struck. It is working with local authorities and partners in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading to reach some of the worst-affected communities.

The major flash flood on 26 August was triggered by a massive glacier collapse and ice-rock avalanche that blocked the Lhende Khola, 20km north of the Rasuwagadhi checkpoint. At least 1,000 people have been killed and 3,916 remain unaccounted for, while more than 50,000 people have been displaced or temporarily moved from their homes.

Nepal is highly exposed to floods, landslides and earthquakes. Climate change is adding further pressure through rapidly changing glaciers, snow and water systems and increasingly unpredictable extreme weather. The Himalayan region also faces growing risks from glacial floods in the years ahead.

Oxfam said far more investment is needed in climate adaptation, early warning systems, disaster preparedness and resilient infrastructure, particularly in countries that have contributed little to global emissions.

“The lesson from Nepal is clear: resilience saves lives,” said Pandey. “If we only fund the response after a disaster, we will always be one step behind. Communities need sustained investment to prepare for the shocks we know are coming.”

“But for now our focus must be on action – we are in a race against time to save lives and support everyone affected.”

He added: “We know that shelter, food and emergency hygiene kits are desperately needed. We are doing everything possible to reach the affected populations, but against such immense need, our contribution feels overwhelmingly small.”

Oxfam has deployed 200 hygiene kits and 1,000 water purification tablets to Rasuwa and distributed water, sanitation and hygiene and food assistance in other affected communities.

It is also preparing to scale up its response over the next six months, aiming to reach 2,000 households – around 10,000 people – with life-saving assistance including WASH, shelter, protection and cash support.

But Oxfam warns that emergency relief alone will not protect Nepal from the next shock.

“Nepal needs international solidarity now, but it also needs investment for the future,” said Pandey. “Climate action must become a priority, not an afterthought.”

Ends

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Notes to editor

  • Oxfam has worked in Nepal since the 1980s, alongside communities and local partners to tackle inequality and deliver humanitarian and development programmes. Its work is grounded in strengthening civic space and supporting people to challenge the injustices that keep them in poverty, led by a feminist approach rooted in the Global South. Oxfam in Nepal works across three connected areas: climate and water, gender justice, and humanitarian response and disaster risk management.

  • Oxfam is working closely with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), the Social Welfare Council and District Administration Offices to deliver relief materials to affected communities.

Contact information:

Spokespeople in Nepal and New Zealand are available. To arrange interviews please contact: [email protected]

Oxfam launches Nepal flood response in worst-hit Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts, as destroyed roads and swept-away bridges block relief efforts

Oxfam has launched an emergency response in Rasuwa and Nuwakot, the districts worst affected by last Wednesday’s flash flood, as roads and bridges swept away by the surge have left entire communities almost impossible to reach.

Oxfam Aotearoa Executive Director, Jason Myers, said “New Zealand and Nepal share a special bond, built through generations of friendship, travel and the many Nepali families who have made Aotearoa their home. So, when disaster strikes Nepal, it resonates deeply with people here in New Zealand.”

On Wednesday 26 August, a landslide and glacial event around 20km north of the Rasuwagadhi checkpoint blocked the Lhende Khola, triggering a major flash flood. At least 1,000 people have been killed and thousands more are missing across Nepal and Tibet. The surge then swept into the Trishuli River via Timure, Syaprubesi and Bhairabkunda, leaving families along the riverbanks of Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha and Chitwan, in peril.

“Entire neighbourhoods are under mud and rescue teams are still digging. The water rose nine metres in half an hour. What we are seeing so far is only what we can reach,” said Santosh Pandey, Oxfam Humanitarian Lead in Nepal.

The collapse of roads, bridges, and communications has severely hampered relief efforts. The Government of Nepal’s has asked for 30 temporary bridges of 50 to 70 metres each, alongside food, shelter and water purification supplies. For now, reaching the hardest-hit communities depends almost entirely on-air access.

“The rivers are full of debris and sewage, and there is no piped supply left to fall back on. Getting clean water and safe sanitation to most affected people into these valleys is the priority now,” added Pandey.

Immediate humanitarian priorities remain concentrated around search and rescue, emergency shelter food, clean water, and hygiene items, particularly in the heavily affected and hard-to-reach areas of Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading. The Government of Nepal estimates that 8,692 households – nearly 40,000 people – require emergency hygiene support and water purification, in addition to 3,130 dignity kits and nearly 4,000 baby kits for children under five.

As well as responding to the current humanitarian crisis, Oxfam is working with communities in Nepal to improve early warning systems that will save lives in future flooding events. Oxfam Aotearoa’s Advocacy and Policy Lead, Nick Henry, said “Climate change is increasing the risk of similar disasters as glaciers become more unstable and prone to collapse. Experts warn the danger of glacier collapse in the Himalayas could triple by the end of this century at the current rate of climate pollution.”

Oxfam, working with its partners and in close coordination with local authorities, is immediately supplying emergency hygiene kits, incorporating water purification solutions, for 200 households in the hardest-hit Rasuwa district. But Oxfam urgently needs $2 million NZD to scale up its response and reach 10,000 people with temporary shelter, clean water, and sanitation and hygiene kits.

Oxfam Aotearoa has launched an emergency appeal for funding to contribute to this humanitarian response. Myers said, “Oxfam is working with community partners in Nepal to provide families with clean water, hygiene supplies and other essential support following the devastating flash floods. We’re asking New Zealanders to stand with our friends in Nepal and give what they can to help families through this emergency.”

//END

Notes to editors

  • Oxfam has worked in Nepal since the 1980s, alongside communities and local partners to tackle inequality and deliver humanitarian and development programmes. Oxfam in Nepal works across three connected areas: climate and water, gender justice, and humanitarian response and disaster risk management.

  • Oxfam is working closely with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), the Social Welfare Council and District Administration Offices to deliver relief materials to affected communities.

Contact information:

Spokespeople in Nepal and New Zealand are available. To arrange interviews please contact: [email protected]

Big Oil set to double profits as their emissions fuel deadly heatwaves

• Top six fossil fuel corporations expect Q2 profits to nearly double Q1 levels. Annual profits for 2026 are set to exceed the previous 21 months combined.

• Emissions from five fossil fuel corporations were enough to cause about 1 in 4 heatwaves between 2000 and 2023, which would have been virtually impossible without climate change.

• A tax on the richest oil and gas corporations could raise up to $400 billion in its first year, enough to cover annual climate adaptation costs in low- and middle-income countries.

The world’s six biggest fossil fuel corporations are expected to nearly double their combined net income in the second quarter of 2026, jumping from $23 billion in the previous quarter to $45 billion, reveals new Oxfam analysis ahead of their earnings announcements. New data also finds that the emissions of these corporations have significantly magnified the frequency and severity of heatwaves this century.

The projected full-year profits of BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies amount to $147 billion, more than their combined profits over the previous 21 months (Q2 2024 to Q4 2025). Among the biggest winners, Chevron is expected to report that it has quadrupled its profits to $1,200 a second in the last three months, while ExxonMobil’s profits are expected to have tripled to $1,800 a second.

Oil and gas corporations share an outsized responsibility for the climate crisis. New Oxfam analysis of academic data published in Nature finds that the emissions from BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies were sufficient to cause around 1 in 4 heatwaves reported globally between 2000 and 2023 – heatwaves that would have been virtually impossible without human-made climate change. Using S&P Capital Trucost data, Oxfam estimates that Big Oil was responsible for $60 billion in environmental damage last year.

The findings come as record-breaking heatwaves scorch South Asia, Europe and North America, killing tens of thousands of people. Meanwhile, West African countries are struggling with devastating monsoons and floods that have upended thousands of lives and destroyed vital infrastructure across the region.

Yet rather than scaling back fossil fuel production and accelerating the transition to renewable energy, the six largest fossil fuel corporations plan to increase oil and gas production by 14 percent by 2030 compared to 2024 levels, equivalent to pumping an additional 2.5 million barrels of oil a day.

“Fossil fuel corporations are making a killing, literally and figuratively. As extreme heat, floods and storms devastate communities across the world, the industry is preparing another bonanza of profits. Families are paying the price three times over: through destroyed homes and harvests, through soaring energy prices, and through a cost-of-living crisis worsened by dependence on fossil fuels. Big Oil’s greed is incompatible with a livable planet and unless governments rein it in, they will make a mockery of international climate targets,” said Oxfam’s Climate Policy Lead Mariana Paoli.

Oxfam estimates that a tax on the profits of the largest fossil fuel corporations could raise up to $400 billion globally in its first year, enough to cover annual climate adaptation costs in the Global South. An additional excess profits tax on all corporations could generate up to $681 billion globally.

“While Big Oil fuels extreme weather events, rich countries are refusing to increase the public climate finance that poorer countries urgently need to cope with the climate crisis,” said Paoli. “Until governments make the richest polluters pay, fossil fuel corporations will keep driving us deeper into climate chaos. Taxing the richest polluters could help close the gap in funding for climate adaptation and speed the transition towards renewable energy. Fossil fuel corporations must feel the heat, not us.”

Political momentum for taxing the richest polluters is growing. Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Austria have called for a new windfall tax on energy profits. In Australia, where Oxfam research found that one in three coal, oil and gas corporations are paying no corporate income tax, many members of Parliament are speaking out in support of a 25 percent export tax on gas, with strong public support.

Research in 60 countries found that 28 percent of them have implemented a temporary windfall tax on excess profits from fossil fuel companies in recent years, with a further 13 percent supportive. Just 12 percent are explicitly against the measure.

Oxfam Aotearoa’s Advocacy and Policy Lead, Nick Henry, said, “Fossil fuel companies have a global responsibility for climate change. The New Zealand Government should be holding these rich polluters to account and making them pay the cost of their climate damage.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

Oxfam’s research is based on S&P Capital IQ’s consensus estimates compiled from financial analysts’ forecasts. The six largest fossil fuel corporations are due to publish their second-quarter earnings over the coming week. The projected surge in profits reflects the sharp rise in oil prices following the unlawful US and Israel war against Iran.

Download Oxfam’s methodology note.

Read Oxfam’s comprehensive investigation “Big Oil profits expected to double as the world burns”. Get the latest insights, data and investigations on global inequality through the Equals podcast and newsletter.

Analysis of peer reviewed data finds that, of the 213 heatwaves recorded between 2000 and 2023, 55 would have been virtually impossible without human-induced climate change. The historical emissions of Chevron, BP, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies were, on their own, enough to cross the threshold that made nearly all those heatwaves over 10,000 times more likely (50 heatwaves for TotalEnergies, 51 for the four others). This means that the emissions of any of those five corporations were enough, on their own, to cause around 1 in 4 of the heatwaves.

Countries in Europe reported over 10,000 excess deaths during the extreme heatwaves in June. Heatwaves are also killing tens of thousands of people in India. Dozens of people drowned, hundreds had to be rescued and thousands were displaced when floods struck the coasts of west Africa last month.

Oxfam estimates that an additional tax on the profits of 585 of the world’s major oil, gas and coal corporations would raise $400 billion. An additional 50 percent tax on the excess profits of all corporations other than fossil fuel energy corporations with a revenue above $100 million would raise $681 billion.

According to the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2025, the estimated adaptation finance needs of low- and middle-income countries range from $310 billion to $365 billion per year by 2035.

Read the details of Oxfam’s model for a ”rich polluter profit tax”.

Read the letter from EU Economy and Finance ministers calling for a windfall profit tax on energy corporations.

Download Oxfam Australia’s Freeloaders report.

See the country mapping of government support for fossil fuel taxes.

Contact information:

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: [email protected]

Floods Devastate Communities as Oxfam Scales Up Response

Over 1.1 million people across Bangladesh have been badly affected by floods due to waterlogging and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rainfall and upstream runoff since 4 July 2026. Chattogram has borne the heaviest impacts on people’s lives and livelihoods, while Cox’s Bazar, including the Rohingya refugee camps, continues to face flooding, landslide risks and damage to essential services.

“This is one emergency unfolding across two distinct contexts,” said Anil Pant, Country Director of Oxfam in Bangladesh. “The floods and their cascading impacts have severely disrupted people’s lives and livelihoods. In Chattogram and other affected districts, families have lost homes, income and access to safe drinking water and sanitation. In Cox’s Bazar, the danger is especially acute, as Rohingya families live in densely populated camps on fragile slopes, with limited space for safe relocation and heightened exposure to flooding and landslides.”

The floods have claimed dozens of lives, displaced thousands of people and damaged homes, roads, embankments, water points, latrines, cropland, fisheries and businesses. Many families have lost food stocks, bedding, cooking utensils and household assets. Thousands remain isolated in submerged communities, while some households cannot cook because they have neither dry space nor fuel.

As of today, the disaster has affected over 1.1 million people across 10 districts: Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati, Khagrachhari, Bandarban, Sylhet, Sunamganj, Moulvibazar, and Habiganj, resulting in 53 fatalities and 39 injuries as of 14th July 2026. Safe drinking water, emergency food, shelter materials, hygiene and dignity kits, sanitation support and flexible cash assistance are among the most urgent needs. At least 3,500 water points and 12,400 latrines the damage to at least 3,500 water points and 12,400 latrines have heightened, heightening the threat of waterborne disease. Recovery will also require repairs to homes and WASH facilities and support to restore livelihoods.

“The water rose so quickly that we could save almost nothing. Our food, bedding and cooking utensils are gone, and finding clean water has become very difficult. We need food, safe drinking water and support to repair our home so that our family can start again,” said Akkas Ali, a flood-affected resident of Statkania, Chattogram.

In the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar, 164 landslides and 42 flooding incidents have been reported. Fifteen Rohingya people lost their lives after shelters and facilities collapsed. A total of 9,707 people were displaced and temporarily relocated, while 482 weather-related incidents affected about 43,000 people across 9,463 households. Floodwater entered shelters and inundated WASH facilities, while prolonged cloudy weather left many households without lighting.

Women and girls, children, older people, individuals with disabilities, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and single-headed households face heightened protection and health risks. Limited relocation space, unstable slopes, damaged drainage and overcrowding are making the situation particularly dangerous and the vulnerabilities of the people living there reach the peak.

Oxfam in Bangladesh has initiated its emergency response and allocated BDT 12,065,000 (approximately BDT 12.07 million) to support the affected communities in Chattogram. Working through local partners, Oxfam is conducting rapid needs and gender assessments and coordinating with government authorities, the Needs Assessment Working Group, and UN clusters.

In Chattogram, Oxfam’s planned assistance includes emergency food, safe drinking water, hygiene & dignity kits containing soap, detergent, sanitary pads and oral rehydration salts, sari and lungi. and Multipurpose cash grants of BDT 8,000 per household are also planned so that vulnerable families can meet their urgent needs, including food, shelter repairs, healthcare, transport and livelihood inputs.

In Cox’s Bazar, Oxfam and partners are supporting assessments and repairing damaged facilities within operational areas. Oxfam has also provided personal protective equipment to 100 Rohingya volunteers serving as frontline responders.

“We are already on the ground with our partners, listening to affected communities and acting on their most urgent priorities,” Anil Pant said. “Our initial allocation is an important first step, but the scale of need is far greater. We call on donors, businesses, development partners and concerned citizens to provide flexible funding so that more families can receive life-saving assistance and rebuild with dignity.”

Oxfam aims to reach up to 160,000 people through a locally led, gender-responsive response focused on immediate relief, livelihood recovery and climate-resilient reconstruction with a funding aspiration of 3 million Euro.

Contact information:

For more information contact: [email protected]