Global Coalition Launches Powerful Video Uniting Multiple Campaigns to Expose Pollution Inequality and Demand Action from the World’s Wealthiest

[New York - September 17th, 2025] — A groundbreaking new video collaboration unites more than 20 global organizations, activists, and thought leaders in a powerful call to action against climate inequality and direct pollution by the wealthiest elite.

Drawing on recent research by the Stockholm Environment Institute and Oxfam International, the campaign highlights a staggering truth: the richest 1% of the world’s population emits as much carbon pollution as the poorest 5 billion people combined. This gross imbalance places the burden of climate change on those least responsible, risking increased inequality.

The video is a rallying cry against this dangerous spiral of inequality. It calls for immediate, systemic action to address climate breakdown and economic disparity by holding the world’s richest polluters accountable.

The video features a powerful coalition of global leaders and organizations, including:

• Tasneem Essop, Executive Director, Climate Action Network
  
   
• Amitabh Behar, Executive Director, Oxfam International
  
   
• Susana Muhamad, Former Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Colombia
  
   
• Hans Stegeman, Chief Economist, Triodos Bank
  
   
• Arthur Larok, Secretary General, ActionAid International
  
   
• Anne Jellema, Executive Director, 350.org
  
   
• Erika Guevara Rosas, Senior Director, Amnesty International
  
   
• Larissa Baldwin-Roberts, Director, Common Threads
  
   
• Clara Thompson, Lead Campaigner, Greenpeace
  
   
• And many others representing voices from grassroots movements to global institutions
  
   

The video campaign supports and amplifies global climate inequality campaigns, including:

• Draw The Line Global Days of Action – Mobilizing communities worldwide
• #MakeRichPollutersPay – Sign the petition at makerichpolluterspay.org
• #TaxTheSuperRich – Back the campaign to tax extreme wealth
• African Climate Justice Caravan – Join regional climate justice efforts across the continent
• ActionAid’s Fund Our Future Petition – fundourfuture.actionaid.org
• Rainforest Action Network’s Tell Mondelēz: Respect Indigenous Rights
• Sign the Global Witness Polluters Pay Pact

• Greenpeace’s Tax the Super-Rich Letter – #TaxTheSuperRich

   

Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International, said: “The injustice at the heart of the climate crisis is clear for all to see – the super-rich are plundering the planet while those least responsible are paying the price. We’ll only be able to stop climate chaos if we start confronting this carbon inequality. Working in collaboration with partners is essential to make sure the richest polluters pay for the climate action the world desperately needs.”

Tim Stumpff, member of Patriotic Millionaires UK, said: “The super-rich are squeezing the life out of our planet and people. It’s only right we make polluters pay, for the sake of all our futures.”

Susana Muhamad, former Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia, said: “The climate crisis is, above all, a crisis of justice. It is unacceptable that while communities in the Global South lose their territories, a small elite continues to enrich itself. It is time for the biggest polluters to pay for the damage and finance a just transition, where climate action is a right, not a privilege.”

The coalition urges individuals, governments, and institutions to:

• Tax the wealthy and polluting luxuries to fund climate adaptation and mitigation
  
   
• Support policies that reduce overconsumption and inequality
  
   
• Drive action at the local, national, and global levels
  
   

Watch. Share. Act.
The video is now available for public viewing and sharing. Join the movement and demand accountability from those most responsible for the climate crisis. Please share with hashtag #PollutingElite.

Download the video in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese, Indonesian, and Italian: at PollutingElite.earth