EU's richest 10% responsible for over quarter of emissions

Emissions have fallen by around 12 percent over this 25-year period, but reduction efforts were not shared equally among EU citizens.

Since 1990, emissions dropped by nearly 40 percent among poorer and middle-income families in the EU. By contrast, the emissions of the richest 10 percent increased by three percent.

The report, compiled by Oxfam and the Stockholm Environment Institute, warns that the wealthiest portion of EU's population has a per-capita carbon footprint over 10 times higher than the level needed to meet the international climate commitments, under the Paris agreement.

In 2015, the wealthiest 10 percent of EU citizens from Germany, Italy, France and Spain were responsible for emitting more carbon dioxide than the entire population of 16 other member states combined.

Additionally, the richest 10 percent of Polish citizens (nearly four million people) were accountable for more emissions than the entire population of countries like Sweden or Finland due to the country's dependency on coal.

While the richest one percent of Luxembourgers, those who have a gross income over €89,000 a year, have a carbon footprint 26 times higher than the EU average - being among the highest-emitters in the world.

In fact, per-capita emissions of the wealthiest 10 percent of Belgian citizens are also very high, nearly twice as high as the richest 10 percent in China or the UK.

'Provided by the poor'

"EU carbon reductions have been delivered by poorer Europeans while the richest have had a free ride. But now everyone must pull their weight to achieve the deeper emission cuts needed over the next decade," said the report co-author, Tim Gore, who is also Oxfam's head of climate policy.

"The Green Deal can target the emissions of the richest while directly benefiting lower-income Europeans," he added.

This week EU leaders aim to reach an agreement over whether to cut emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030, up from a current target of 40 percent.

Once the new target is adopted, the EU will be able to submit a new climate pledge under the Paris climate agreement before the end-of-year deadline.

However, the Oxfam report points out that achieving the deeper emissions cuts needed by 2030 will require "a much greater focus on measures to address the excessive carbon consumption of the richest EU citizens".

Air travel and car journeys are responsible for the largest share of the carbon footprint of the highest-emitting Europeans, while heating and food are mainly responsible for the emissions from lower-income groups.

"The climate problem cannot be solved if luxury consumption continues to grow and if poverty remains unaddressed - it is neither mathematically nor politically realistic," said Sivan Kartha from the Stockholm Environment Institute.

The EU, responsible for around 15 percent of global consumption emissions, is home to only seven percent of the world's population.