Oxfam: World's Richest 0.1% Profit From Climate Causes and Costs

The world's richest 0.1% — 8 million people — emit more carbon than the poorest 3.5 billion combined, and they are now cashing in on both sides of the climate crisis, according to a new Oxfam report. The global equality organisation says this group profits from polluting industries while simultaneously investing in a disaster recovery market projected to grow from $70bn to $92bn a year by 2029.

Oxfam calls the arrangement a "double dividend" — and warns it creates a direct financial incentive for the wealthy to delay or disrupt climate action.

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."

Who profits from the 'adaptation economy'?

Oxfam's new "destroy and rebuild" index identifies 217 corporations that either fuel climate breakdown or do business adapting to it — through cooling devices, flood barriers, firefighting equipment, transportation, food, insurance and loans. Last year, these companies made an average of $1.8bn each and paid out $1bn in dividends to shareholders.

Six major asset managers appear on the list in their own right and hold heavy stakes in other index members. BlackRock and Vanguard alone hold shares in 92% of the indexed companies, worth more than $1tn combined, according to Oxfam.

The report also tracks food trading. Crises driven by extreme weather or war have historically boosted profits at major food traders dominated by billionaires, whose wealth has grown by $120bn since 2020. When drought, floods or storms destroy crops, subsequent food price increases tend to benefit big corporations and their investors at the expense of small producers and consumers. Oxfam cites a 231% surge in cocoa prices after extreme weather in west Africa in 2024, when local farmers saw none of the gains.

What does the emissions gap cost in lives?

The inequality has a body count, Oxfam argues. The annual emissions of the richest 1% will cause 1.9 million excess deaths from heat, based on the group's estimates of impacts on human health, agricultural productivity and sea level rise. More than three-quarters of those deaths will occur in low- and middle-income countries, which produce only 8% of global emissions.

The richest 0.1% have contributed 125 times more than the average person to extreme heat events, the report finds. Lifestyle plays a part — the world's private jets release more CO2 in two seconds than most people emit in a year — but the biggest impact comes from their investments.

Why insulation from disaster slows climate action

Wealthy nations and individuals remain largely insulated from the crisis, at least for now, because they can absorb higher food prices, robust housing, emergency evacuation, private healthcare and personal security, Oxfam says. That insulation makes them less likely to spend their lobbying power on climate action — and may even encourage them to slow or block emissions cuts that threaten their wealth. Some, the report adds, use disasters to push privatisation agendas or push poor nations into loans.

Alex Maitland, one of the report's lead authors, said the very richest are not passive beneficiaries. "This is deliberate," he said. "When you take into account their political influence, this is pretty damning evidence that they're able to orchestrate that is happening."

What does Oxfam want done?

The organisation is demanding higher taxes on the rich, private jets, oil and gas companies and other polluters. It calls on the UK government to strengthen international climate financing commitments based on grants rather than loans and to end profiteering from climate disasters.

Nafkote Dabi, climate change policy lead at Oxfam International, framed the fix in blunt terms: "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."

With the adaptation market on track to hit $92bn by 2029, the financial logic runs opposite to the political one — every year of delayed emissions cuts grows both the problem and the portfolios positioned to profit from it.