This thesis investigates how communication design can be critically used to make data accessible and stimulate public debate on the environmental impact and accountability of the world’s top 20 billionaires. Combining methods from data journalism, data feminism, and adversarial design, the research explores the intersections between wealth concentration, corporate power, and ecological harm. Two original datasets were designed: the first maps the connections between billionaires and their corporations; the second traces these corporations’ environmental violations and sanctions. Through these, the study reveals how influence is structurally embedded in complex ownership and governance networks, and how environmental damage often remains unpunished. The data were visualized through Wealthy Polluters, a prototype of an interactive web report designed as both a research tool and a public platform. The website allows users to navigate corporate networks, explore environmental violations, and access open-source data and methodology. By transforming inaccessible information into legible and explorable visual narratives, the project demonstrates how design can act as a tool for transparency, accountability, and civic empowerment. The findings highlight a persistent disconnection between environmental harm and legal responsibility: billionaires are rarely held accountable for the damages caused by their enterprises. The thesis concludes that communication design, when critically and ethically applied, can expose hidden structures of power and foster collective inquiry, encouraging society to confront the links between wealth, inequality, and environmental crisis.
Questa tesi indaga come il design della comunicazione possa essere utilizzato in modo critico per rendere i dati accessibili e stimolare il dibattito pubblico sull’impatto ambientale e la responsabilità dei venti miliardari più ricchi del mondo. Combinando metodi provenienti dal data journalism, dal data feminism e dall’adversarial design, la ricerca esplora le intersezioni tra concentrazione di ricchezza, potere aziendale e danno ecologico. Sono stati progettati due dataset originali: il primo mappa le connessioni tra miliardari e le loro società; il secondo traccia le violazioni ambientali e le sanzioni commesse da tali imprese. Attraverso questi dati, lo studio mostra come l’influenza economica sia radicata in complessi sistemi di proprietà e governance, e come gran parte dei danni ambientali resti impunita. I dati sono stati visualizzati attraverso Wealthy Polluters, un prototipo di web report interattivo concepito come strumento di ricerca e piattaforma pubblica. Il sito consente di esplorare le reti societarie, consultare le violazioni ambientali e accedere a dati e metodologia open-source. Trasformando informazioni inaccessibili in narrazioni visive leggibili e navigabili, il progetto dimostra come il design possa fungere da strumento di trasparenza, responsabilità e empowerment civico. I risultati evidenziano una persistente disconnessione tra danno ambientale e responsabilità legale: i miliardari raramente rispondono delle conseguenze delle proprie attività. La tesi conclude che il design della comunicazione, applicato in modo critico ed etico, può rendere visibili le strutture di potere nascoste e favorire un’indagine collettiva sulle relazioni tra ricchezza, disuguaglianza e crisi ambientale.
Wealthy Polluters: uncovering billionaires' environmental impact through corporate accountability
Costanzo, Giulia
2024/2025
Abstract
This thesis investigates how communication design can be critically used to make data accessible and stimulate public debate on the environmental impact and accountability of the world’s top 20 billionaires. Combining methods from data journalism, data feminism, and adversarial design, the research explores the intersections between wealth concentration, corporate power, and ecological harm. Two original datasets were designed: the first maps the connections between billionaires and their corporations; the second traces these corporations’ environmental violations and sanctions. Through these, the study reveals how influence is structurally embedded in complex ownership and governance networks, and how environmental damage often remains unpunished. The data were visualized through Wealthy Polluters, a prototype of an interactive web report designed as both a research tool and a public platform. The website allows users to navigate corporate networks, explore environmental violations, and access open-source data and methodology. By transforming inaccessible information into legible and explorable visual narratives, the project demonstrates how design can act as a tool for transparency, accountability, and civic empowerment. The findings highlight a persistent disconnection between environmental harm and legal responsibility: billionaires are rarely held accountable for the damages caused by their enterprises. The thesis concludes that communication design, when critically and ethically applied, can expose hidden structures of power and foster collective inquiry, encouraging society to confront the links between wealth, inequality, and environmental crisis.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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2025_12_Costanzo.pdf
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Descrizione: This thesis investigates how communication design can be critically used to make data accessible and stimulate public debate on the environmental impact and accountability of the world’s top 20 billionaires. Combining methods from data journalism, data feminism, and adversarial design, the research explores the intersections between wealth concentration, corporate power, and ecological harm.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/246982