ABSTRACT
The earth’s atmosphere is a common-pool resource which belongs to all the planet’s inhabitants, but we do not all make equal contributions to greenhouse gas emissions, nor will we all share the consequences. The rich as individuals, and rich countries more generally, are responsible for the majority of carbon emissions, and their wealth allows them to evade much of their impact. Poor people, on the other hand, contribute little to the causes of climate change and will be disproportionately affected by its hazards. This is why we must consider social and economic inequality and the environmental impact of wealth when debating climate change and strategies to curb it. This chapter focuses on the earth’s billionaires and their detrimental impact on the environment. Their personal consumption and lifestyle have carbon footprints that can be thousands of times higher than those of average citizens even in the richest countries, and they are major investors in polluting industries. Their glamorous and luxurious lifestyles set bad examples for others to emulate, and worse, they reduce public motivation to make sacrifices to cut carbon footprints. Anthropology has many useful things to say about the ways other societies control and limit inequality, and the potential for social activism to address the anti-social behaviors of the super-rich.
