Drivers of household carbon emissions in South Africa

In a previous blog post, I estimated the distribution of South African household carbon emissions by expenditure group and found that household emissions are unequally distributed, with the richest 10% of households emitting almost 4 times more than the national average. In this blog post, I dive deeper into these emissions to understand what drives these emissions patterns

The distribution of carbon emissions across South African households

In this blog, I show that carbon emissions are unequally distributed across South African households. Rich South Africans emit between 2 to 4 times the national average. I highlight several important implications: Rich South Africans need to reduce their carbon emissions drastically; an increase in emissions by poorer households should not be misconstrued as a failure to meet our climate goals; and, if all South Africans are to enjoy the consumption levels of rich South Africans, it is necessary to transition to a low-carbon economy.