Image missing.
The Richest 1 Percent Burned Their Entire Share of Carbon for the Year in Just 10 Days

Joe Wilkins

created: Jan. 13, 2026, 6:07 p.m. | updated: Jan. 23, 2026, 5:35 p.m.

In less time than it takes to get bored of your new year’s resolution, the planet’s wealthiest people had already blown through their yearly ration of carbon emissions. A new analysis by the Oxfam Foundation found that the world’s richest 1 percent exceeded their fair share of annual carbon emissions just 10 days into the year. The global “carbon budget” is based off the amount of carbon dioxide that humankind can collectively spew while keeping us within 1.5 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial temperatures. “If everyone emitted like the richest 0.1 percent, the carbon budget would be used up in less than three weeks,” Oxfam implores. Staving off environmental collapse, in other words, will require a difficult confrontation with some of the world’s richest people and the powerful corporations that built their fortunes.

4 weeks, 2 days ago: Futurism