{"id":48560,"date":"2026-10-15T08:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T06:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/?p=48560"},"modified":"2026-10-15T08:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T06:00:13","slug":"eus-richest-1-linked-to-more-than-e300-billion-in-annual-climate-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/issues\/climate-energy\/48560\/eus-richest-1-linked-to-more-than-e300-billion-in-annual-climate-debt\/","title":{"rendered":"EU\u2019s richest 1% linked to more than \u20ac300 billion in annual climate debt\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Brussels<\/strong> \u2013 The richest 1% of people in 24 EU countries are linked to an estimated \u20ac301 billion in climate debt through their ownership of companies and assets in 2022 alone, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/greenpeace.at\/uploads\/2026\/10\/eu-climatedebt_report.pdf\">new Greenpeace report<\/a> released today [1], with the largest shares attributed to the wealthiest 1% in Germany and France. The findings come as EU leaders meet in Brussels today to discuss the next EU budget and potential new sources of revenue.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" title=\"Action to Symbolically \u201cConfiscate\u201d WEF Participants Private Planes in Switzerland\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-eu-unit-stateless\/2026\/10\/5530d14b-gp0su45te_medium-res-with-credit-line-1200px-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-48561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-eu-unit-stateless\/2026\/10\/5530d14b-gp0su45te_medium-res-with-credit-line-1200px-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-eu-unit-stateless\/2026\/10\/5530d14b-gp0su45te_medium-res-with-credit-line-1200px-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-eu-unit-stateless\/2026\/10\/5530d14b-gp0su45te_medium-res-with-credit-line-1200px-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-eu-unit-stateless\/2026\/10\/5530d14b-gp0su45te_medium-res-with-credit-line-1200px-453x340.jpg 453w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-eu-unit-stateless\/2026\/10\/5530d14b-gp0su45te_medium-res-with-credit-line-1200px.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Nina Fink \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Ariadna Rodrigo, Greenpeace EU political campaigner <\/strong>said: <em>\u201cFor too long, the super-rich have been allowed to fuel deadly heatwaves, droughts and floods, while ordinary people foot the bill for the damage. Billionaires and centimillionaires must finally pay their fair share. The EU is slashing its budget for renewables, home insulation, social protections and a fair transition for workers \u2013 but the money is there to pay for this. An EU tax on the super-rich can relieve the burden on ordinary households and fund a green transition for all.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The report <em>\u201cUnder the Surface: The Hidden Climate Debt of Extreme Wealth in the European Union\u201d<\/em> is the first of its kind in Europe and applies the \u2018climate debt\u2019 methodology, traditionally used for countries, to individuals in the EU, with a special focus on the 1% richest. Climate debt estimates the monetary value of climate damage associated with emissions beyond an equitable share [2]. The report looks at climate debt from two perspectives: what the super-rich consume and what they own and invest in. It also includes country case studies of Belgium, France, Hungary, Italy, and Spain.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The main findings<\/strong> are:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The \u20ac301 billion in climate debt linked to the assets and investments of the wealthiest 1% stands alongside \u20ac80 billion linked to the lifestyles and consumption of the richest 1%, calculated using a separate approach. [3]\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Climate debt is heavily concentrated among the super-rich. Across the countries, the wealthiest 1% have an average ownership-based climate debt per person that is around four to more than eight times that of the wealthiest 10%.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Across EU countries, ownership-based climate debt varies substantially, from approximately \u20ac132,000 per person in Ireland\u2019s top 1% to around \u20ac30,000 in Romania. <strong>Malta<\/strong>, <strong>Luxembourg<\/strong>, <strong>Estonia<\/strong>, <strong>Poland<\/strong>, and <strong>Bulgaria<\/strong> show the highest per capita climate debt linked to the consumption of the super-rich. <strong>Ireland<\/strong>, <strong>Austria<\/strong>, <strong>Estonia<\/strong>, <strong>Germany<\/strong>, and <strong>Lithuania<\/strong> show the highest per capita climate debt linked to the investments and assets of the super-rich.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The true EU-wide total could be higher: the \u20ac301 billion estimate covers only 24 of the EU&#8217;s 27 Member States, as limited transparency around asset ownership prevents comparable calculations for Cyprus, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Clara Thompson, tax justice expert at Greenpeace Germany,<\/strong> said: \u201cPrivate jets and luxury lifestyles are just the tip of the iceberg. Under the surface lies another major dimension of climate responsibility \u2013 in the emissions associated with the companies and assets owned by the super-rich. Governments now have an opportunity to act: they must use the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/blog\/61375\/inc-5-why-the-un-tax-convention-matters-for-climate-justice\/\">UN Tax Convention<\/a> to strengthen taxation of extreme wealth and shine a light on who ultimately owns carbon-intensive assets. You cannot fairly tax wealth you cannot see \u2013 and you cannot make polluters pay while ignoring what the super-rich own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greenpeace advocates for a fair tax system based on the \u201cmaking polluters pay\u201d principle, starting with a fair wealth tax, a premium flyers tax, and a permanent tax on fossil fuel profits.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[1] <a href=\"https:\/\/greenpeace.at\/uploads\/2026\/10\/eu-climatedebt_report.pdf\">The analysis<\/a> was conducted by Forum \u00d6kologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft (F\u00d6S) e.V. and commissioned by Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[2] It should not be interpreted as a direct fiscal liability or an estimate of potential tax revenue.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[3] Consumption- and ownership-based climate debt are two different approaches to allocating emissions responsibility and should not be added together or interpreted as a combined \u20ac380 billion figure. Consumption-based estimates are based on income groups and emissions associated with lifestyles, while ownership-based estimates are based on wealth groups and emissions associated with ownership of productive assets and investment portfolios.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Contacts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Ariadna Rodrigo, Greenpeace EU political campaigner:<\/strong> +32 (0)479 99 69 22, <a href=\"mailto:ariadna.rodrigo@greenpeace.org\">ariadna.rodrigo@greenpeace.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Clara Thompson, Greenpeace Germany tax justice expert<\/strong>: +49 175 8530 226, clara.thompson@greenpeace.org,\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Christine Gebeneter, Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe, communication lead:<\/strong> +43 664 8403807, <a href=\"mailto:christine.gebeneter@greenpeace.org\">christine.gebeneter@greenpeace.org<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The richest 1% of people in 24 EU countries are linked to an estimated \u20ac301 billion in climate debt through their ownership of companies and\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":48561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_seo_meta_title":"","p4_seo_meta_description":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22],"p4-page-type":[14],"class_list":["post-48560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate-energy","tag-climatechange","p4-page-type-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48560"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48562,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48560\/revisions\/48562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48560"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=48560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}