Flood Deaths Reach 13-Year High as Oxfam Cites Inequality

The Nepal-Tibet disaster followed a glacier collapse that sent a wall of water more than 100 meters high through a valley at 180 kilometers per hour. More than 1,500 people were killed and 5,600 remained missing, according to the source article. The head of the United Nations Office for Project Services said last month the catastrophe should be a “defining moment” for efforts to address the climate emergency.

Oxfam said flood deaths are seven times higher in more unequal countries. It also contrasted the vulnerability of people in the Global South with the emissions of the wealthiest: carbon pollution from a person in the richest 1% has contributed 34 times more to today’s extreme heatwaves than that of an average person, and 100 times more than someone in the poorest 50%, the group said.

The analysis comes as monthly temperature records were broken in more than 100 countries this year. In September, the UN said the planet was expected to exceed the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit because countries were not doing enough to cut emissions. A report issued as world leaders gathered in Antalya, Türkiye, for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) warned the limit could be breached “irrevocably.”

Oxfam also cited private-jet traffic at the summit. Using Polluterjet data, it said 87 private jets had landed at Antalya Airport since November 7, emitting an estimated 777 tons of carbon dioxide. Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote’s flight from Lagos covered about 4,370 kilometers and produced an estimated 30 tons of carbon—roughly the average person’s emissions over six years, Oxfam said. It recorded 66 private-jet journeys during COP30 last year.

The Global Solidarity Levies Task Force estimates that taxing private jets owned by about 250,000 people could raise $45 billion a year, nearly 12 times what rich countries gave to UN climate funds in 2025. Oxfam International executive director Amitabh Behar called the flood deaths foreseeable consequences of a fossil-fueled economy and urged governments to tax private jets.