New data just released shows that the world’s largest oil, gas and coal companies have been directly responsible for more than a third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1965.
Research led by Richard Heede, and conducted by the Climate Accountability Institute, shows that the 20 largest fossil fuel companies are responsible for 35 per cent of all energy-related carbon dioxide and methane released into the world’s atmosphere between 1965 and 2017.
Disturbingly, what that means is these companies have released a total of 480 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) into the globe since the year that experts say the impact of burning fossil fuels was known by the industry.
It comes as Extinction Rebellion activists are protesting in cities across Australia and around the world to draw attention to the danger that climate change poses.
The data from world-renowned researchers reveals how a tight group of state-owned and multinational firms are driving the climate emergency that threatens the future of humanity, and details how they have continued to expand their operations despite being aware of the industry’s devastating impact on the planet.
Those identified range from investor-owned firms, well know names such as Chevron, Exxon, BP and Shell, to state-owned companies including Saudi Aramco and Gazprom.
Chevron topped the list of the eight investor-owned corporations, followed closely by Exxon, BP and Shell.
Together these four global businesses are behind more than 10 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions since 1965.
Some shareholders have tried to force companies, including Shell, to publish more information about their climate-related emissions and their plans to transition to lower carbon models.
Last year, Shell was one of the first fossil fuel firms to link executives’ pay to carbon emission targets.
Twelve of the top 20 companies are state-owned and together their extractions are responsible for 20 per cent of total emissions in the same period.
The leading state-owned polluter is Saudi Aramco, which has produced 4.38 per cent of the global total on its own.
Professor Michael Mann, one of the world’s leading climate scientists, said the findings shone a light on the role of fossil fuel companies and called on politicians at the forthcoming climate talks in Chile in December to take urgent measures to rein in their activities.
“The great tragedy of the climate crisis is that seven and a half billion people must pay the price, in the form of a degraded planet, so that a couple of dozen polluting interests can continue to make record profits. It is a great moral failing of our political system that we have allowed this to happen,” he said.
Figures are based on “the theory that fossil fuel producers bear substantial responsibility for the adverse impacts of their products”, and include their direct actions as well as the environmental impact of their products.
The Institute’s research shows that a total of 1.35 trillion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents were released into the atmosphere between 1965 and 2018.
“These companies have significant moral, financial, and legal responsibility for the climate crisis, and a commensurate burden to help address the problem,” the report’s authors write.
The report also draws attention to the fact that emissions “must peak immediately” in order to meet targets to be reduced by 45 per cent by 2030, and reaching “net zero” levels by 2050.
Half of all global fossil fuel and cement CO2 emissions recorded since 1751 have been emitted since 1990.
Mr Heede, who led the research at the Institute, has been examining the role of fossil fuel companies in the growing fossil fuel crisis for some years.
He said: “These companies and their products are substantially responsible for the climate emergency, have collectively delayed national and global action for decades, and can no longer hide behind the smokescreen that consumers are the responsible parties.
“Oil, gas, and coal executives derail progress and offer platitudes when their vast capital, technical expertise, and moral obligation should enable rather than thwart the shift to a low-carbon future.”
EcoNews is an independent publication that relies on contributions from its readers.
WE’RE BUILDING A PLATFORM WITH A CLEAR FOCUS ON THE ENVIRONMENT, CULTURAL AND SOCIAL GOOD. CONTRIBUTE AND TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE AN IMPACT.
