Super-rich get ‘double dividend’ from causes and costs of climate crisis, report finds
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EN: Negative inversion with 'Not only... but also...': When 'not only' begins a clause for rhetorical emphasis, subject-auxiliary inversion is mandatory (auxiliary verb + subject + main verb). The second clause with 'but (also)' follows standard canonical word order.
Not only did the policy fail to reduce emissions, but it also exacerbated economic disparity.
EN: Reduced relative clause using a present participle: 'driving the climate crisis' is a reduced non-finite clause functioning as a post-modifier of 'polluting industries', equivalent to 'which/that are driving the climate crisis'.
Tech firms producing AI hardware are attracting substantial investments.
EN: The idiomatic phrasal verb 'cash in on something': Meaning to exploit a situation, crisis, or opportunity specifically for financial gain or unfair advantage, frequently carrying a critical or pejorative tone.
Speculators were accused of cashing in on the medicine shortage during the outbreak.
EN: Oxfam is a globally recognized confederation of charitable organisations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty. In recent years, Oxfam has prominently linked economic inequality to climate justice, coining concepts like 'climate inequality' to expose how the carbon emissions of billionaires far exceed those of the average global citizen while vulnerable communities bear the costs.
EN: The noun phrase 'a market projected to expand...' acts as an appositive to 'disaster recovery', renaming and expanding on the concept. 'Projected' is a past participle used as a post-positive modifier (reduced relative clause equivalent to 'which is projected to expand').
The firm invested in renewable energy, an industry expected to double its capacity within a decade.
EN: When a fraction or percentage phrase like 'the richest 0.1 percent' refers to a plural concept (the people/individuals making up that group), it takes a plural verb ('are heavily invested') rather than a singular verb.
Approximately twenty percent of the students are participating in the exchange program.
EN: The phrase 'from X to Y [timeframe/rate]' combined with 'by [year]' indicates a numerical progression bounded by a specific deadline or future reference point. 'By' signifies 'no later than' or 'at the point of'.
Global sales are forecasted to rise from 5 million to 12 million units annually by 2030.
EN: The term 'disaster recovery' traditionally referred to engineering, reconstruction, and logistics following extreme events. In modern socioeconomic discourse, however, it is increasingly discussed in the context of 'disaster capitalism'—a phenomenon where private investors profit from environmental and humanitarian crises, often raising ethical questions about incentives to slow down genuine climate solutions.
EN: The phrase 'the charity cautioned' is a parenthetical reporting clause inserted medially between the subject ('Such a double dividend') and the modal auxiliary verb ('could give'). In formal journalistic writing, this structure attributes statements to their source smoothly without interrupting the main narrative flow with heavy introductory phrasing.
The proposed reforms, economists argue, would significantly reduce long-term unemployment.
EN: The pattern 'give + indirect object (the wealthiest) + direct object (an incentive) + to-infinitive (to delay or disrupt...)' demonstrates the ditransitive use of 'give' combined with an infinitive phrase functioning as an adjective complement modifying 'incentive'. 'The wealthiest' uses 'the + adjective' to function as a plural collective noun denoting a class of people.
Tax breaks give corporations a strong incentive to invest in renewable energy.
EN: In economics and environmental policy, 'double dividend' traditionally refers to the dual benefit of a green tax (reducing pollution while raising fiscal revenue). Here, Oxfam subverts the term ironically: the ultra-wealthy profit first by causing pollution, and second by investing in lucrative disaster-relief industries necessitated by that very damage.
EN: The conjunction/relative adverb 'whereby' means 'by which' or 'according to which'. It is commonly used in formal, academic, or legal English to introduce a clause describing a process, system, or mechanism established by the preceding noun (here, 'a systemic inequality').
The government introduced a scheme whereby young entrepreneurs can access low-interest loans.
EN: The phrase 'those least responsible' utilizes the demonstrative pronoun 'those' acting as the head noun meaning 'the people', modified by the reduced post-positive adjective phrase 'least responsible'. This is a concise, formal structure equivalent to 'those who are least responsible'.
Resources should be allocated to those most vulnerable to extreme weather events.
EN: The transitive verb 'entrench' literally means to place in a trench, but figuratively denotes establishing an attitude, habit, or inequality so firmly that change is difficult. It frequently collocates with words like 'inequality', 'privilege', or 'power'.
Tax loopholes risk entrenching wealth disparities across generations.
EN: Organizations like Oxfam and climate justice advocates often prefer the term 'global heating' over 'global warming', and 'climate crisis' over 'climate change'. The shift in vocabulary is intended to convey greater urgency and more accurately reflect the severe human and environmental toll. Additionally, 'climate injustice'—the reality that the poor suffer most while contributing least to carbon emissions—is a central theme in progressive NGO reporting.
EN: The reporting verb 'accuse' follows the transitive pattern 'accuse somebody of doing something', where the preposition 'of' governs a gerund clause denoting the alleged misdeed.
Regulators accused the pharmaceutical giant of inflating drug prices during the public health crisis.
EN: The present participle clause 'insisting that...' acts as an adverbial participle of manner or accompaniment, expressing an action performed simultaneously with the main verb ('accused') by the same subject ('Jean McLean').
The executive stepped down immediately, denying all allegations of financial impropriety.
EN: The idiom 'at both ends of...' paired with 'benefit from' describes extracting advantages from opposing or mutually exclusive stages of a situation—here, causing/profiting from emissions and later profiting from disaster recovery.
Defense contractors often profit at both ends of international conflicts by supplying weapons and later rebuilding infrastructure.
EN: 'Chief influencing officer' is an increasingly common C-suite or senior director title in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like Oxfam. Unlike a commercial marketing director, this role focuses on policy advocacy, lobbying governments, and shaping public discourse on social and climate justice. Furthermore, 'turning chaos into profit' invokes the concept of disaster capitalism (popularized by Naomi Klein), where private interests exploit systemic breakdowns for financial gain.
Key vocabulary words with IPA pronunciation, definitions, example sentences, and interactive quizzes.
Phrases with type tags, bilingual definitions, usage notes, and example sentences.
To take advantage of an opportunity or situation, especially in order to make a profit.
The process, policies, and procedures related to preparing for and recovering from natural or human-induced disasters.
Two benefits or advantages gained from a single source or action.
From two opposite positions, stages, or aspects of a situation.