Oxfam says the super-rich profit from both causing climate disasters and rebuilding after them
The world's richest 0.1% emit more than the poorest 3.5 billion people combined, and in Türkiye the top 0.1% outpollute the poorest 27% of the population, the report finds.
The world's wealthiest people profit from the polluting industries driving climate change and increasingly from the disasters that follow, according to a report Oxfam released Tuesday ahead of the United Nations (UN) climate summit in Türkiye.
The richest 0.1% of the world's population, about 8 million people, are responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 3.5 billion combined, the report says. Oxfam's new "destroy and rebuild" index lists 217 companies that either fuel climate breakdown or sell products for adapting to it, from cooling devices to flood barriers and insurance. Asset managers BlackRock and Vanguard hold shares in 92% of them, worth more than $1 trillion.
The market for disaster preparedness, recovery and reconstruction is projected to grow from $70 billion to $92 billion a year by 2029, Oxfam says, according to a piece published Tuesday by Jonathan Watts in The Guardian. Oxfam argues this gives the wealthiest an incentive to delay climate action.
"The super-rich benefit at both ends of the crisis," said Jean McLean, Oxfam's chief influencing officer.
The report estimates that one year of emissions from the richest 1% will cause 1.9 million excess heat deaths, more than three-quarters of them in low- and middle-income countries that produce only 8% of emissions.
Turkish data released by the Foundation for the Support of Women's Work, an Oxfam confederation member, show that the richest 0.1% in Türkiye, about 84,980 people, emit more than the poorest 27%, or 22.9 million people, according to the İklim Haber newsroom. Oxfam is calling on governments to tax extreme wealth, fossil fuel companies and private jets.
This brief is based on reporting by Jonathan Watts, published Oct. 27, 2026, in The Guardian, and by the İklim Haber newsroom, published Oct. 27, 2026. Read the originals: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/oct/27/super-rich-double-dividend-climate-crisis-oxfam and https://www.iklimhaber.org/turkiyede-en-zengin-01in-emisyonu-en-yoksul-%27nin-emisyonundan-daha-fazla/
This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by an editor before publication.
