Il set più ricco del Regno Unito produce 13 volte più emissioni di trasporto rispetto al più povero entro il 2035
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/27/transport-emissions-gap-rich-poor-uk-forecast-to-widen
di corbynista2029
Il set più ricco del Regno Unito produce 13 volte più emissioni di trasporto rispetto al più povero entro il 2035
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/27/transport-emissions-gap-rich-poor-uk-forecast-to-widen
di corbynista2029
12 commenti
ah yes but you see we recycle our bottles and cans so it makes it all ok, rich people can do as they please
Does anyone expect the CEO of a multinational company with 20k employees across the globe to travel as much as a student who doesnt even have time to work part-time?
These comparisons make no sense. We can complain when that CEO pollutes voluntarily but when its part of the job, it makes no sense.
How much does a rally driver pollute? F1 driver? Plane pilot? Their job is spreading CO2 in the atmosphere…
The Guardians piece about the gap in transport emissions between rich and poor I think is possibly too simplistic to frame it as ‘the rich travel more so they’re worse for the environment.’ Transport is only one part of the overall carbon picture, and if you take general carbon use into account the story looks more complicated.
For example, wealthier households are much more likely to live in newer, better insulated homes with modern boilers, heat pumps or even solar panels. Poorer households are often stuck in older, leaky housing stock and can’t afford to replace inefficient appliances, which means their emissions per pound spent on heating can actually be higher.
The rich are also more likely to buy into carbon offset schemes (lets be honest, they are an indulgence of the middle-upper class), whether that’s for flights or household energy, and while the effectiveness of offsets is debated it’s undeniable they’re more financially accessible to those with disposable income. They’re also often early adopters of green tech like EVs and home solar, things that are still out of reach for most people on lower incomes.
Then there’s taxation. Transport and fuel use are already heavily taxed through fuel duty, vehicle excise duty, air passenger duty and so on. Since richer people consume more of these taxed goods they end up contributing a lot more absolute revenue to the state. If (and it’s a big if) government channels that money into green investment or other public goods some of the imbalance will be further offset.
The point is that the number is increasing, not the absolute value.
The study suggests that we invest in public transport to make poorer people more mobile (slightly increasing their emissions) and discourage private transport (reducing rich people emissions).
It continues to argue that this will create a fairer system.
Despite the headline picture, the headline figures exclude international travel. If included, the gap is much wider.
Clearly we must punish the poor a bit more, obviously.
The underlying data compares:
>Car free, high bus, low income
To
>Highly affluent, unrestricted mobility
So, assuming someone doesn’t own a car reduces their emissions. No shit.
Also, I’m assuming wealthy people not only have jobs but have to be prepared to commute a fair distance. Is that something that we should criticise?
I’m a fan of the Guardian, but sometimes they do distort data to fit an agenda.
Privatise all public transport so that shareholder corporations own the bulk of shares. This will drive down the cost of public transport, increase efficiency and create a larger network of public transport for everyone.
Wait…
Really? I thought it would have been much less. What an insightful news item.
So the poorest, who can’t afford any means of transportation beyond on foot or bicycle will emit much less who can afford a car and flight tickets. Someone is aiming for a Nobel Prize with such a novel thesis…
Great, so [insert your football team] will be taking the bus?
Oops, not that kind of “rich”, then.
Hence why i gave up recycling and other bits. Ny miniscule efforts dont make a dent against the monstrosities of the elites and their toys.
You say that, as an other private jet flies over my head. 1,300x or 13,000x I could believe but not 13x.