Enormous emissions gap between top 1% and poorest, study highlights

Polluting elite' responsible for same amount of carbon dioxide in a year as poorest 10% are in more than two decades, data shows

The top 1% of earners in the UK are responsible for the same amount of carbon dioxide emissions in a single year as the bottom 10% over more than two decades, new data has shown.

The findings highlight the enormous gaps between what have been termed the polluting elite", whose high-carbon lifestyles fuel the climate crisis, and the majority of people, even in developed countries, whose carbon footprints are far smaller.