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We are in an emergency. This year is on track to become the hottest on record. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. People are dying. Meanwhile, the world’s richest continue to get richer, exploiting people and the planet for their own gain.

The recent “Climate Equality: A Planet for the 99%” report from Oxfam makes it glaringly clear: these are not separate issues. Climate breakdown and inequality are linked together and fuel each other. If we are to overcome one, we must overcome both.

What we are seeing now is only the very beginning of a changing climate caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases. We are not equally to blame for these emissions, nor for the damage they cause.

The richest 1% of the world’s population is responsible for as much carbon pollution as the people who make up the poorest two-thirds of humanity. They have stolen our planet’s resources to fuel their lavish lifestyles. A short trip on a private jet will produce more carbon than the average person emits all year. They are sacrificing us at the altar of their greed.

This report reveals a perverse reality: those who have done the least to cause the climate crisis are the ones who are suffering the most. And those who have done the most will likely suffer the least. The richest can insulate themselves from the damage they cause. They can escape to their multiple, air-conditioned homes. They can protect themselves against damage to their property. While those at the front lines, who are suffering because of the excesses of the richest, have nowhere to hide from the drought, flooding and relentless heat. Those with wealth and power have convinced themselves that some lives are worth more than others. Their lives do not matter more.

The people most responsible for the climate crisis — mainly white, privileged men — are also the ones who have been given a leading role in getting us out of it. I have found myself with a front-row seat in the world’s corridors of power — at the UN, the World Economic Forum and in global climate negotiations. Here, I have seen first-hand that the people destroying our planet, the people at the core of the climate crisis, the people heavily invested in fossil fuels, the people with the greatest wealth: somehow these people are the ones we rely on to solve our problems.

How have we left the culprits in charge when there is so much at stake? Why are they in charge when time and again they have shown us that they prioritize their greed and short-term economic profits above people and planet? Is it any wonder progress is so slow?

This injustice must end. With the policies we currently have in place, we are heading for 3.2°C of global warming by the end of the century. This will result in disaster.

If we are to have a chance of minimizing further irreparable damage to the planet, we must choose now. Either we safeguard living conditions for all future generations or we let a few very rich people maintain their destructive lifestyles and preserve an economic system geared towards short-term economic growth and shareholder profit.

We must educate ourselves about the causes of this crisis. We must make fundamental changes to the way our societies operate. We must stop pursuing infinite growth on a finite planet. We must ensure that those with greater responsibility pay the highest price. And we must move towards an equal transformation of our societies, which prioritizes the planet and all of humanity.

※ Editor’s note: Ahead of the COP 28 UN climate conference that will kick off in the United Arab Emirates on Nov. 30, Oxfam International released a report in which it shows that carbon emissions of the top 1% earners to be equal to the poorest 5 billion people on earth. We’re running this piece by Greta Thunberg, a climate activist known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change, provided by Oxfam.

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