Since the 2016 Paris climate agreement, many big production companies around the world have increased the output of fossil fuels. As a group, there are fifty-seven (57) companies around the world linked to 80% of greenhouse gas emissions since 2016! Unsurprisingly, these companies are oil, gas, coal, and cement producers. World renowned researchers have compiled information into a carbon majors database. According to the database, the “powerful cohort of state-controlled corporations and shareholder-owned multinationals are the leading drivers of the climate crisis.” In 2016, governments of the member nations of the Paris climate agreement pledged to cut greenhouse gases. But the research shows that most of these mega-producers increased output of fossil fuels and related emissions between 2016 and 2022. During these last six years, “the biggest investor-owned contributor to emissions was ExxonMobil of the United States, which was linked to 3.6 gigatonnes of CO 2 of the global total. Close behind were Shell, BP, Chevron and TotalEnergies, each of which was associated with at least 1% of global emissions.”
Research also revealed that state and state-owned producers, especially in the Asian coal sector, were trending toward surging growth of emissions. The International Energy Agency has already issued a warning “that no new oil and gas fields can be opened if the world is to stay within safe limits of global heating. Climate scientists say global temperatures are rapidly approaching the lower Paris target of 1.5C above the pre-industrial era, with potentially dire consequences for people and the rest of nature.” Richard Heede, who established the Carbon Majors dataset in 2013 said: “[it] is morally reprehensible for companies to continue expanding exploration and production of carbon fuels in the face of knowledge now for decades that their products are harmful.” And “[d]on’t blame consumers who have been forced to be reliant on oil and gas due to government capture by oil and gas companies.”
The updated database now includes a comparison between long-term emissions trends back to 1854, and emission trends since the 2016 Paris climate agreement. “The historical record encompasses 122 entities linked to 72% of all the fossil fuel and cement CO 2 emissions since the start of the industrial revolution, which amounts to 1,421 gigatonnes.” During this period, China was the largest emissions offender with 14% of historic global carbon dioxide The Soviet Union was the second largest offender followed by Saudi Aramco. Then comes Chevron at 3%, ExxonMobil at 2.8%, Russian’s Gazprom, the National Iranian Oil Company, BP and Shell (each with greater than 2%), and then Coal India. However, between 2016 and 2022, “the China coal share leaps to more than a quarter of all CO2 emission, while Saudi Aramco goes up to nearly 5%. The top 10 in this modern era is dominated by Chinese and Russian state entities and filled out with those from India and Iran. Western capitalism does not appear until the 11th placed ExxonMobil with 1.4%, half of its historical average.”
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/04/just-57-companies-linked-to-80-of-greenhouse-gas-emissions-since-2016?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1
https://carbonmajors.org/briefing/The-Carbon-Majors-Database-26913
https://www.theguardian.com/business/exxonmobil
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/18/no-new-investment-in-fossil-fuels-demands-top-energy-economist
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/08/global-temperature-over-1-5-c-climate-change
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/08/what-happens-if-the-15c-target-for-global-heating-is-missed
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/09/revealed-20-firms-third-carbon-emissions
https://carbonmajors.org/
https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/news/news-releases/2022/0118_exxonmobil-announces-ambition-for-net-zero-greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-2050
https://www.chevron.com/sustainability/environment/lowering-carbon-intensity
https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/sustainability/getting-to-net-zero.html
https://www.shell.com/sustainability/our-climate-target.html
https://heatmap.news/climate/climate-superfund-vermont
