C1306 words2:00News Report American AccentPublished Jun 18, 2026 · Updated Jun 18, 2026

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The wealthiest ten percent of the global population generates environmental damage amounting to $5.7 trillion annually, according to a landmark study.

Published by researchers at the University of Oxford and the University of Leiden, the findings underscore how consumption patterns among mega-consumers have reached unprecedented levels.

The environmental cost now surpasses the gross domestic product of every nation on Earth except the United States and China.

These mega-consumers are disproportionately concentrated in the global north, with more than half the population of the United States falling into this category.

In the European Union, approximately forty to forty-five percent of the population qualifies as part of this high-consuming group.

One researcher involved in the study described the damage tally as utterly extraordinary, emphasizing that the figure eclipses global funding gaps designated for tackling the climate and biodiversity crises.

The study identified food and energy as the two most destructive categories of consumption.

Red meat consumption emerged as a primary driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss worldwide.

Energy expenditure, encompassing aviation, residential heating and cooling, and the burning of fossil fuels, constituted the other major contributor to climate damage.

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Were these consumption patterns to persist unchecked, the researchers cautioned, the cumulative toll on planetary ecosystems would prove irreversible.

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The monetary figure was derived from estimates of the impacts of climate disruption, biodiversity loss, nutrient pollution, and freshwater depletion.

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On an individual basis, the average annual environmental damage bill for someone in the global top ten percent ranged from $2,300 to $7,500.

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For those residing in the United States, however, the figure soared to between $19,000 and $63,000 per person annually.

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Not only do wealthy nations bear the greatest responsibility, but emerging economies are rapidly closing the gap as well.

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Notably, the average environmental cost attributed to China's top ten percent has already overtaken that of Germany's wealthiest consumers.

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‘Mega-consumers’ of food and energy cost environment $5.7tn a year, study finds

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