Climate change | Rich people are getting richer with fossil fuels

The presentation of the new Dassault Falcon 7X once again attracted business people from all over the world. Photo: afp/DERRICK CEYRAC At the World Climate Conference, Spain and France are promoting an additional tax on business class tickets and travel with private jets, Germany is supporting the project. Unfortunately, this message is a year old. There are no known initiatives for luxury taxes in aviation for the upcoming climate summit number 31 in Turkey. On the contrary - airlines and airports in Germany in particular are currently calling for the partial demise of the industry and are calling for a reduction in air traffic taxes and fees.

Regardless of this, the plane continues to be the most climate-damaging form of mobility. Traveling by private jet in particular not only means extremely high emissions, but is also the most unjust form of mobility, as an analysis by the development organization Oxfam published on Tuesday shows. Each flight with a private jet caused an average of 3.7 tons of CO2. This is close to the global per capita emissions for the whole of 2025 of around 4.6 tonnes.

According to the information, only the richest 0.003 percent of the world's population use private jets. In absolute terms, according to the analysis, there are around 250,000 people and - not surprisingly - they are predominantly men. According to the analysis, over 55,000 private jets took off from German airports last year. Oxfam calculates that their flights caused more CO2 in less than half an hour than a German citizen did in the entire year.

Private jets, it should be added, are also an anachronism in terms of transport policy. According to an analysis by Greenpeace Austria, the majority of flights are on short routes such as Paris-Geneva, London-Paris or Vienna-Salzburg. In Europe, more than half of the distances flown are short routes under 750 kilometers, including almost 40 ultra-short routes under 500 kilometers.

The ecological injustice of luxury jets is obvious. However, the per capita benchmark chosen by Oxfam somewhat obscures the fact that private aviation for the wealthy ultimately only causes a small proportion of aviation emissions. Oxfam reports annual emissions of 180,000 tons of CO2 from private jet traffic in Germany. According to the Federal Environment Agency, this compares to total emissions from German aviation of 9.1 million tonnes for 2025. Unlike Oxfam, this also includes the so-called non-CO2 emissions from aviation, which account for around two thirds of the jets' total greenhouse gas emissions.

For Manuel Schmitt from Oxfam, the sharp criticism of the private jet class is simply a question of justice. For the long-term acceptance and support of climate protection measures among the general population, it is important to make such injustices public. When asked, the consultant on social inequality explains that it is crucial for Oxfam that climate policy starts first with those who bear a disproportionately large responsibility for the climate. A small minority of people are responsible for a disproportionate number of emissions through their luxury consumption and investments - at the expense of the majority.

It's not just the villas or castles, the super cars, mega yachts and luxurious private jets that the rich use to put far greater strain on resources. A few years ago, with the “Carbon Billionaires” report, Oxfam went beyond looking at consumer emissions to find out something much more serious for the climate: the CO2 pollution caused by the investments of the rich or by the corporations that own and significantly control them.

»We believe that, as a first step, private jets must be taxed consistently and heavily. That would mean a lot from a justice perspective.”

The study at the time examined the investment emissions of 125 of the world's richest people. Based on an expanded database, Oxfam was now able to obtain data from 1,000 billionaires from 59 countries. According to this report, total emissions from their activities amounted to 486 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2025. On average, the investments of a super-rich person caused more climate emissions in one minute than a person from the poorer half of humanity did in the entire year, Oxfam denounces. The investment emissions of a German billionaire are well above the international average, at around 700,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

What has proven to be particularly harmful for future climate development is that, according to Oxfam, 71 percent of the investments of the 1,000 billionaires flow into very climate-damaging sectors such as oil, gas or chemicals. In Germany this fossil share is said to be 63 percent. In other words: The rich are getting richer with fossil fuels.

Here too, the injustice does not only affect the emissions side. Oxfam points out that wealth makes it possible to live in relatively safe places, insure assets against climate-related damage and build reserves to better weather crises. People living in poverty do not have all of these opportunities, the organization notes. In addition, the loss of what little they have can be much more serious for the poor than for the rich. Studies have also shown that increasing vulnerability to the consequences of the climate crisis is associated with increasing income inequality.

For Oxfam it is clear: the very rich and corporations in particular must, on the one hand, massively reduce their CO2 emissions and, on the other hand, make a financial contribution to overcoming the climate crisis.

To this end, the organization particularly calls for fair taxation of large assets. A first step would be to enforce the minimum tax of two percent on the assets of multimillionaires and billionaires discussed by the G20 group of states. In Germany, this tax would, according to information, bring in up to 28 billion euros annually and, depending on how it is designed, would affect around 250 to 5,000 households.

For corporations, Oxfam requires a permanent excess profits tax of at least 50 percent on profits that exceed a return of ten percent. Profits from companies in the fossil fuel sector should be taxed at least 50 percent from a low return of, for example, three percent. By reducing incentives for investment in fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal and instead promoting investment in renewable energy, the tax would have a strong steering effect.

And as far as flying with private jets is concerned: Oxfam is proposing to eliminate tax benefits and significantly increase the existing kerosene tax. A tax should be introduced for luxury or premium air tickets in first and business class.

Oxfam is also open to a ban on private jets, explains Manuel Schmitt. »We believe that, as a first step, private jets must be taxed consistently and heavily. “That would mean a lot from a justice perspective,” he says. The legal basis is there and just needs to be applied consistently. It's scandalous that this hasn't happened long ago.

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