Last year was the hottest on record and the Earth is heading towards global warming of 2.7 degrees, yet major fossil fuel and cement producers show contempt for climate change and are actively making things worse. a new Carbon Majors Database Report found that just 57 companies were responsible for 80 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions between 2016 and 2022. Thirty-eight percent of total emissions during this period came from nation-states, 37 percent from state entities and 25 percent from investors. companies they own.
Nearly 200 parties adopted the 2015 Paris Agreement, committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, 58 of the 100 state-owned and investor-owned companies in the Carbon Majors database have increased their production in the years since (the Climate Accountability Institute launched Carbon Majors in 2013 to hold fossil fuel producers accountable and is hosted on InfluenceMap ). This figure represents producers around the world, including 87 percent of those evaluated in Asia, 57 percent in Europe and 43 percent in North America.
It is also not a clear case of things changing slowly. He International Energy Agency found that coal consumption rose eight percent in the seven years to 8.3 billion tons, a record. The report names state-owned Coal India as one of the top three producers of carbon dioxide. Russian state energy company Gazprom and state oil company Saudi Aramco rounded out the trio of worst offenders.
Exxon Mobil topped the list of American companies, contributing 1.4 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. “These companies have made billions of dollars in profits while denying the problem and delaying and obstructing climate policy. They are spending millions on advertising campaigns about being part of a sustainable solution, while continuing to invest in more fossil fuel extraction,” Tzeporah Berman, director of the international program of Ground Stand and President in Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treatyhe said in a statement. “These findings emphasize that, more than ever, we need our governments to stand up to these companies, and we need new international cooperation through a Fossil Fuel Treaty to end the expansion of fossil fuels and ensure a truly just transition “.
