06/18/2026
JUST IN: New research suggests that the world’s richest 10% are responsible for trillions of dollars in environmental damage each year. 🌍
This high-consumption group has a disproportionately large footprint, driven by lifestyle choices, travel, consumption of goods, and investments linked to polluting industries.
Their impact spans carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, freshwater depletion, and nutrient pollution affecting global ecosystems.
Using 2017 consumption data, researchers from Leiden University estimated these environmental costs by applying monetary values to ecological damage.
The study places the annual global cost at between $1.7 trillion and $5.7 trillion, averaging around $2,300 to $7,500 per person in this group. Biodiversity loss accounts for nearly half of the total impact, followed closely by climate-related damage.
In wealthier nations such as the United States, per-capita environmental costs are significantly higher, reaching tens of thousands of dollars.
These losses translate into real-world consequences, including reduced agricultural output, health risks, ecosystem decline, and economic strain—often affecting lower-income populations the most.
The report highlights the “polluter pays” principle and suggests that targeted environmental policies or taxes on high-income consumption could help fund climate and biodiversity action globally.
While assigning monetary value to nature has limitations, the findings emphasize unequal responsibility in driving environmental change.
Source: Schrijver et al., Communications Sustainability (2026), reported by ScienceAlert.