Why Billionaires Destroy the Planet the Most

Research shows that richer countries with wealthier people produce more than their fair share of greenhouse gases. It makes sense then that the wealthiest of people would produce much more of their share of greenhouse gases too. In fact, the wealthiest one percent produce more than twice the carbon dioxide emissions than the poorest half of the world. In 2022, Forbes reported 2,668 billionaires worth a total of $12.7 trillion. Elon Musk, the richest person in the world and one who claims eco-consciousness, had an estimated carbon footprint of 2,084 tonnes in 2018. This is far greater than the global average of 5 tonnes per person, which at that rate would take about 550 lifetimes to equal the carbon footprint of a billionaire. With global goals to cut emissions in half by 2030, it’s clear who can make the largest impact when it comes to personal carbon emissions. We explore why billionaires destroy the planet the most and where their largest carbon emission contributions come from. 

1. Superyachts

The first on our list of why billionaires destroy the planet is superyachts. Out of all the luxurious purchases a billionaire makes, a superyacht contributes the most greenhouse gases by far. And they’re on the rise, 2022 being a record breaking year with 1,024 orders, an increase of 24% from 2021. And that’s adding to the over 6,000 superyachts globally. There’s no agreed upon definition, but superyachts are typically over 74ft long. Although, this might be the minimum for most billionaire superyachts. Jeff Bezo’s new superyacht is over 400ft long, so large it forces the De Hef bridge in Rotterdam will be dismantled so it can get to the ocean.

A superyacht with a permanent crew, helicopter pad, submarines, and pools emits about 7,020 tons of CO2 a year, 1,500 times more than an average family car. And with superyachts increasing in size and adding more luxury toys like helicopters and support yachts, the energy required, and carbon emitted looks likely to increase too.

2. Multiple Mansions

Next on our list of why billionaires destroy the planet is multiple mansions. There’s no official definition for a mansion, but they’re typically above 5,000 sq ft.  And billionaires like to have a lot of them. In 2018, demi-billionaires (at least half a billion USD in assets) had an average of 10 homes each. In the 1990s Bill Gates, the fifth richest billionaire, famously built one of his mansions – Xanadu. At 66,000 sq. ft., it has a 23-car garage, a 20-person cinema and 24 bathrooms. 

Building one of these super homes requires chopping down 380 trees, whereas the average US home chops just 20. In addition, a mansion has a carbon sequestration loss nearly 20 times greater than an average home. Most of these homes are empty the majority of the year but energy use doesn’t stop while the owners are away. Billionaire mansions are kept heated and cooled at all times, with staff on hand for when they visit. This energy use adds up, increasing their environmental footprint. 

3. Private Jets

When you have somewhere to be as a billionaire apparently the only way to travel is by private plane. There were 21,979 private jets globally, 71% in North America alone in 2019. In 2022, there were almost 300,000 private plane flights every month, an estimated 10% of all global air travel. Demand for private planes grew during Covid-19 as the want to stay safe travel within your own bubble grew. Private planes didn’t have the same travel restrictions as commercial flights either so the wealthy could still fly freely.  

The average private jet owner has an average net worth of 1.6 billion USD and owns an average of 1.3 planes, each costing an average of 16.4 million USD. These planes cost thousands of dollars per hour to operate and cause negative environmental impacts through fossil fuels and C02 emissions. Flying is already known to be bad for the environment but private planes generally produce a lot more emissions per passenger than commercial flights. A private jet can emit 2 metric tons of CO2 per hour, for context an EU citizen produces 8 tons per year. Thanks to the popular Twitter account @CelebJets, you can now see how much celebrities use their private planes and how much CO2 emissions they generate each time. You’ll frequently see flights less than 30 minutes, and even at that they can still generate 1 ton of CO2 per hour. If they opted to drive for an hour instead, they’d only generate 0.0005 tons of CO2.

4. Invested in Fossil Fuels

Many billionaires made, and continue to make their fortunes from the fossil fuel industry. In 2020, the 10 largest fortunes from industries with significant greenhouse gas emissions were valued at 537 billion USD. From the Koch family’s oil refineries to Warren Buffet’s coal and gas production, billionaire’s are heavily invested in the fossil fuel industry. And you can see why when you look at the numbers, the top 10 richest clean energy billionaires have a combined net worth 9 times less than the top 10 fossil fuel billionaires. 

But unsurprisingly, the fossil fuel industry isn’t good for the environment. In fact, the top 20 fossil fuel companies are responsible for 35% of all energy-related carbon dioxide and methane worldwide since 1965. This comes to a staggering total of 480 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Some of these companies have goals to reduce or eliminate their greenhouse emissions, for example, the Volkswagen group plans to be carbon emission free by 2050. But these plans are varied, to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions, invest needs to be made in renewable energy sources rather than fossil fuels. 

Read more about heavy polluting industries in our post Which Industries are the Most Environmentally Damaging?   

5. Space Flights

Finally our list of why billionaires destroy the planet is space flights. Not content with flying around earth on their private jets, billionaires have taken an interest in space travel and industry now too. Dubbed the “billionaire space race”, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and Elon Musk all have plans to develop space for industry. In July 2021, within 9 days of each other Bezos and Branson each took their own space flights. But these space flights don’t come without significant cost, both financially and to the planet. 

According to the 2022 World Inequality Report, a space fight emits more carbon dioxide than most people in the world will create in their entire lifetime. In addition, we’re emitting pollutants into an area where we don’t normally emit them. The impact of this is still unknown. But even with all the negative environmental impacts, billionaires still want to develop space. Branson plans to develop space tourism, sending passengers to the edge of space a few times a day. While Bezos plans to build a space business park including a space hotel. And finally, Musk plans to build a self sustaining city on Mars.

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