The world’s wealthiest people are not only profiting from the polluting causes of climate breakdown—they are also increasingly making money from its catastrophic consequences, according to a study by Oxfam. The global equality organization found that the richest 0.1% of the world’s population are heavily invested in disaster preparedness, recovery, and reconstruction—a market projected to grow from $70 billion to $92 billion a year by 2029. This gives the planet’s wealthiest and most powerful people a “double dividend” from the climate crisis and, more alarmingly, an incentive to delay or disrupt action to solve the problem, the NGO says. It also worsens global inequality, as those least responsible for global heating end up having to pay those most responsible through higher food prices, repairing homes damaged by extreme weather, or relocating to other areas.
Jean McLean, Oxfam’s chief influencing officer, accused billionaires of turning chaos into profit. “The super-rich benefit at both ends of the crisis: first, through continued investment in polluting industries, and second, through investment in the booming ‘adaptation economy’—recovery and rebuilding services are sold back to a warming world,” she said. “The populations who contributed least to the climate crisis are absorbing its worst consequences, while those who caused it are best equipped to protect themselves.”
The richest 0.1% on the planet—a group of 8 million people—are responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 3.5 billion combined, the report says. As a result, this group has reportedly contributed 125 times more than the average person to extreme heat events. This is partly due to lifestyles. The world’s private jets, for example, release more CO2 in two seconds than most of the world’s people emit in an entire year. But the biggest impact of this group comes from their investments.
Oxfam’s new Destroy and Rebuild index identifies 217 corporations that either fuel climate breakdown or do business in adapting to it through the provision of cooling devices, flood barriers, firefighting equipment, transportation, food, insurance, and loans. Last year, these companies made an average of US$1.8 billion and paid out $1 billion in dividends to shareholders. Six major asset management firms, which advise wealthy investors, are on this list in their own right and are heavily invested in other members. Two of the biggest, BlackRock and Vanguard, have shares in 92% of the companies in the index, worth a total of more than $1 trillion, Oxfam says.
Similarly, it notes that crises—caused by extreme weather or war—have tended to boost the profits of major food trading companies dominated by billionaires, whose wealth has increased by $120 billion since 2020. When drought, floods, or storms hit crops, any subsequent increase in food prices tends to disproportionately benefit big corporations and their investors at the cost of small producers and regular consumers, Oxfam says. The group cites the case of a 231% surge in cocoa prices after extreme weather in West Africa in 2024, when it says local farmers saw none of the gains.
Such inequality has consequences. The annual emissions of the richest 1% will cause 1.9 million excess deaths due to heat, Oxfam says, based on estimated impacts on human health, agricultural productivity, and sea level rise.More than three-quarters of those deaths will happen in low- and middle-income countries, which are far less responsible for the crisis because they produce only 8% of emissions. Wealthy nations and wealthy individuals are somewhat protected – at least for now – from the climate crisis because they are more likely to be able to afford higher food prices, sturdy housing, emergency evacuation, private healthcare and personal security. Revealed: major oil firms make $93bn in profits amid war and climate crisis. Read more. This makes them less likely to use their considerable lobbying power to support climate action, and may even encourage them to slow or block emissions cuts that could affect their personal wealth, Oxfam says. Instead, some use disasters to push privatisation agendas or encourage poor nations to take out loans. Alex Maitland, one of the lead authors, said the very richest people were not just passive beneficiaries of the climate crisis. “This is deliberate,” he said. “When you take into account their political influence, this is pretty damning evidence that they’re able to orchestrate what is happening.” Oxfam is demanding higher taxes on the rich, private jets, oil and gas companies and polluting companies. The group calls on the UK government to improve international climate financing commitments based on grants rather than loans, and to end profiteering from climate disasters. Nafkote Dabi, the climate change policy lead at Oxfam International, said: “What’s complex about talking about climate change is everyone likes to think it’s a shared problem, but it’s not. Addressing the climate crisis is really easy. Control the richest, curb their power, curb their emissions, and also tax their wealth.”
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs The SuperRich and the Climate Crisis Double Dividend
1 What does double dividend mean in this report
It means the superrich benefit twice from the climate crisis they profit from the activities causing it and also profit from the response to it
2 Who counts as the superrich
Usually the top 1 or even the top 01 of wealth holderspeople with millions or billions in assets investments and companies The exact cutoff depends on the study
3 How do the wealthy cause more climate emissions
Their lifestyles and investments produce far more emissions than the average personsprivate jets yachts multiple homes and large holdings in polluting industries
4 How do they profit from the causes of climate change
Many hold shares in fossil fuel companies mining and other highemission industries As these industries grow so does their wealth
5 How do they profit from the costs of climate change
Through reconstruction and recoveryrebuilding homes and infrastructure after floods fires and stormsplus insurance construction and commodities that rise in price during crises
6 Whats a simple example of the double dividend
A billionaire who owns shares in an oil company profits when oil prices rise then profits again when their construction firm is hired to rebuild a town destroyed by climatedriven floods
7 Is this happening everywhere
The pattern shows up globally but its most visible in countries with weak taxes on wealth and carbon and where disaster recovery relies heavily on private contracts
8 Why is this a problem
It means the people least harmedand most responsiblekeep gaining while poorer communities bear the losses It also weakens pressure to fix the underlying causes
9 Doesnt everyone pay for climate disasters
Yes but not equally Poorer households lose a larger share of their income and often lack insurance while wealthy investors can absorb losses and even turn them into gains
10 What role do governments play
Public money often funds disaster recovery and subsidies When that money flows to private contractors and investors it can deepen the double dividend
11 What is climate inequality
The unequal share of climate causes costs and benefits across income groups The double dividend is
