Efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C will fail unless the world tackles inequality and rampant overconsumption, a new report has warned.
The study, released by the Berlin-based thinktank Hot or Cool Institute, argues that the Paris Agreement's climate goals will remain "virtually impossible" to meet without major lifestyle changes—particularly among the world's wealthiest populations.
Researchers analysed the lifestyle carbon footprints of people in 25 countries across different income groups, in what they describe as the broadest assessment of its kind. The results show that high-income nations must cut their average lifestyle emissions by between 82 and 94 per cent to align with Paris targets.
Yet none of the countries examined are currently on track. Upper-middle and lower-middle income countries would also need to reduce their lifestyle emissions by up to 81 and 67 per cent respectively.
Wealthy nations lead in overconsumption
The United States topped the list, with average lifestyle emissions 17 times higher than those compatible with the 1.5°C pathway. It was followed by Australia (12 times higher) and Canada (11 times higher).
Every EU country in the study was classified as high-income. Among them, Italy recorded the highest footprint, emitting 7.5 times more than the recommended level, followed by Germany, Portugal, and Estonia. Greece had the lowest emissions within this group but still exceeded targets fivefold.
Inequality and emissions: "inseparable crises"
"The remaining carbon budget is now so small that governments will soon have to choose between meeting basic social needs and addressing climate impacts, unless drastic action is taken," said Dr. Lewis Akenji, the institute's executive director and lead author of the report.
"The climate and social crises are inseparable," he added. "Rising emissions and widening inequality are reinforcing one another."
How to reduce lifestyle emissions
The report identifies nutrition, housing, and transport as the main drivers of lifestyle-related carbon emissions, accounting for up to 95 per cent of an individual's footprint across income groups.
Switching to a plant-based or planetary health diet could save between 1,000 and 2,500 kilograms of CO₂e per person each year, depending on local conditions. Ditching private cars in cities and investing in public or active transport could cut emissions by a similar amount, especially in countries heavily reliant on cars.
Improving energy efficiency in buildings, using low-carbon materials, and deploying clean heating and cooling systems are also seen as critical to lowering emissions on a large scale.
A call for systemic change
But the report stresses that personal choices alone are not enough. The richest 10 per cent of people are responsible for nearly half of global emissions, while the poorest half contribute less than one-third.
To bridge this divide, the institute calls for globally coordinated taxation and wealth caps, including progressive income and inheritance taxes, comprehensive capital gains levies, and defined ratios between maximum and minimum income levels.
"Revenues from these measures should fund universal basic services and sustainable infrastructure," the report concludes. "Global coordination on wealth and taxation could both secure sufficiency for all and ease the social tensions that currently hinder climate cooperation."