Britain’s super-rich are polluting more than ever while the rest of us are cleaning up our act

While millions of Britons tighten their belts, switch off the lights, and worry about the cost of living, degenerate elites are spewing out more pollution than ever

A new analysis from Oxfam has laid bare a scandal that should shame the nation: the richest 0.1 per cent in Britain—those who live in mansions, jet between private islands, and park their super-yachts off the Riviera—have increased their personal carbon emissions by an astonishing 53 per cent since 1990.

Meanwhile, the rest of us have done our bit. The bottom 90 per cent of the UK population have cut their emissions by 26 per cent over the same period. In other words, ordinary households—pensioners switching to LED bulbs, families ditching the car commute, young renters turning down the thermostat—have all been pulling their weight. The ultra-wealthy? They’ve been undoing everyone else’s hard work.

The pollution class divide

This is the uncomfortable truth: Britain’s battle against climate change has turned into a class war. Oxfam’s data shows that the rich are not just consuming more—they’re burning through the planet’s resources at a pace that makes national targets look like a joke.

While the government celebrates modest progress in cutting emissions, it’s masking a staggering inequality. The average billionaire’s lifestyle—private flights, luxury cars, multiple homes—emits hundreds of times more carbon than that of a nurse, teacher, or delivery driver.

Globally, Oxfam estimates that a 60 per cent tax on the income of the richest one per cent could slash carbon emissions equivalent to the entire output of the United Kingdom—and still raise US$6.4 trillion for green investment. Yet instead of taxing those most responsible, Britain’s leaders continue to offer loopholes, subsidies, and soft-touch regulation to the very people profiting from pollution.

The money behind climate denial

And it gets worse. The report exposes how the ultra-rich are not just the biggest polluters—they’re also bankrolling the campaigns that keep the public confused and politicians inactive.

Lobby groups in the UK have reportedly received more than half a million dollars from a fund linked to US oil barons, the Koch brothers—money used to fight against clean-energy policies and spread misinformation.

At the same time, broadcasters like GB News have given airtime, almost weekly, to the notorious Global Warming Policy Foundation—a group that downplays or denies the climate crisis. One of GB News’s owners just happens to run a hedge fund with over $2.2 billion in fossil-fuel investments. You couldn’t make it up.

This toxic mix of power, profit, and propaganda ensures that the public keeps paying the price, while those at the top keep cashing in.

Time for accountability

Oxfam’s findings are a wake-up call—but will anyone in Westminster listen? Because behind every luxury yacht and private jet trail lies the same story: a privileged few polluting the planet while the majority clean up their mess.

Ordinary Britons have done their share. Now it’s time for the wealthiest to pay theirs—not with empty pledges, but with taxes, regulation, and accountability. Until then, Britain’s so-called climate leadership will remain what it really is: a smokescreen for a system that rewards pollution at the top and preaches sacrifice at the bottom.