Each year, the planet's temperature rises, and atmospheric phenomena become more extreme. Many scientists link both facts to climate change caused by human activity. A report from the British think tank InfluenceMap points out many of the culprits behind this harmful activity to the planet. Global CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels (oil, gas, and coal) and cement production increased in 2023 compared to the previous year, and more than 50% of these gases that heat the Earth are linked to just 36 companies, as reported by Servimedia.
The report, released this Wednesday, includes updated data on the largest global CO2 emitters, with figures extracted from Carbon Majors, a historical database that quantifies the contribution of the 180 largest global producers of oil, gas, coal, and cement to global carbon emissions - the main driver of climate change - from 1854 to 2023. Of these entities, 169 are still active, and 11 no longer exist.
Despite overwhelming scientific evidence linking greenhouse gas emissions to global warming, 93 of the companies included in Carbon Majors increased their emissions in 2023.
STATE-OWNED AND CORPORATE COMPANIES
Among these 93 companies, 50 are investor-owned companies. Of these, the top five emitters accounted for 4.87% of global CO2 emissions in 2023, specifically ExxonMobil (1.28%), Chevron (1.09%), Shell (0.92%), TotalEnergies (0.82%), and BP (0.76%).
State-owned companies dominated global emissions in 2023, as 16 of the top 20 emitters are state-owned, and state emitters, in general, contributed 52% of emissions in 2023.
The top five state emitters were responsible for 17.38% of all CO2 emissions in 2023. Topping the list is the oil company Saudi Aramco (4.38% of the total), followed by the coal giant Coal India (3.68%), the Chinese CHN Energy (3.65%), the Chinese Jinneng Group (2.92%), and the National Iranian Oil Company (2.75%).
Chinese companies significantly contributed more than those from any other country. In 2023, they produced 23% of global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and cement, solidifying their leadership from 2022.
The analysis indicates that cement emissions are increasing significantly. Of the five companies with the highest relative emission increases in 2023, four were cement companies (Holcim Group, Heidelberg Materials, UltraTech Cement, and CRH), highlighting the importance of efforts to decarbonize this sector worldwide.
Furthermore, the Carbon Majors dataset reveals that 67.5% of anthropogenic industrial CO2 emissions since the Industrial Revolution are concentrated in 180 state-owned and corporate entities.
From 1854 to 2023, only 26 entities accounted for more than a third of global CO2 emissions.
"The major carbon companies keep the world hooked on fossil fuels without plans to reduce production. While states delay in meeting their Paris Agreement commitments, state-owned companies dominate global emissions, ignoring the desperate needs of their citizens," according to Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of UN Climate Change from 2010 to 2016.
Figueres added: "The science is clear: we cannot regress towards more fossil fuels and more extraction. Instead, we must move towards the many possibilities of a decarbonized economic system that works for people and the planet."
Emmett Connaire, senior analyst at InfluenceMap, emphasized that this latest Carbon Majors analysis reveals that, "despite global climate commitments, a small group of the world's largest fossil fuel producers is significantly increasing production and emissions."
Kumi Naidoo, chair of the campaign for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, stated: "We are at a critical moment in human history. And the alarming reality is that the world's largest fossil fuel companies are not only increasing their emissions but doing so in a context of climate phenomena that are having devastating effects on people's daily lives.
"It is essential for governments to step up and use their authority to end the root cause of the crisis we are facing: the expansion of fossil fuels. We urgently need to transition to more sustainable, fair, and affordable economic and energy models for all, or what will remain for future generations will be a destroyed planet," he concluded.