Just 36 Companies Responsible for Half of Global Emissions
Half of the world’s carbon emissions come from just 36 companies, according to a recent analysis. Countries worldwide have been battling to decarbonise their economies by investing in renewable energy and clean tech, moving away from fossil fuels, and reducing emissions from some of the most polluting industries. Despite their best efforts, it seems that the world may fail to achieve the 1.5-degree heating target outlined in the Paris Agreement climate accord unless the most polluting companies work to rapidly reduce their emissions.
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change, which was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference in 2015. The agreement aims to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” Forecasts from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggest that surpassing the 1.5°C threshold risks triggering far more severe climate change impacts, such as more frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves, and rainfall. Achieving the 1.5°C limit requires that greenhouse gas emissions peak before 2025 at the latest and decline 43 percent by 2030.
In recent years, governments worldwide have begun to invest in renewable energy and clean tech to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and support a green transition. Several countries have also introduced carbon taxes and other incentives to encourage high-emissions-producing companies to decarbonise their operations. In addition to investing in low-carbon operations, supported by green energy and clean tech, many companies around the globe have invested in carbon offset schemes and carbon capture and storage technology to either mitigate or reduce their carbon emissions.
However, recent research from Carbon Majors – a database of historical production data from 180 of the world’s largest oil, gas, coal, and cement producers – suggests that the biggest polluters globally are not doing enough to reduce their carbon emissions, which could harm progress towards achieving the aims set out in the Paris Agreement. The analysis shows that around half of the world’s carbon emissions produced in 2023 came from just 36 companies.
The report showed that 36 major fossil fuel companies, including Saudi Aramco, Coal India, ExxonMobil, Shell, and multiple Chinese companies, contributed over 20 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions from their oil, gas, and coal operations in 2023. The figures for Saudi Aramco were astounding, showing that if compared to a country, it would be the fourth-biggest polluter globally after China, the U.S., and India. Meanwhile, ExxonMobil’s emissions were similar to those recorded for the whole of Germany.
Carbon Major’s figures show that most of the 169 companies in the database increased their emissions in 2023. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has repeatedly stated the need to reduce the global reliance on fossil fuels to tackle climate change. The organisation said new fossil fuel projects that started after 2021 are incompatible with achieving a net-zero emissions outcome by 2050.
Emmett Connaire, at InfluenceMap, the think tank that created the Carbon Majors analysis, stated, “Despite global climate commitments, a small group of the world’s largest fossil fuel producers are significantly increasing production and emissions. The research highlights the disproportionate impact these companies have on the climate crisis and supports efforts to enforce corporate responsibility.”
A Carbon Majors report from April 2024 showed that just 57 fossil fuel and cement producers were linked to 80 percent of global fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015. Despite a broad knowledge of the high levels of emissions being produced by these companies, little has been done to push them to reduce their emissions.
The U.K. oil major BP, one of the private companies on the list of the biggest emitters, recently announced plans to cut its renewable energy investments and instead focus on increasing oil and gas production. This comes in spite of mounting pressure from international organisations and governments worldwide to decarbonise. BP said it planned to boost investments in oil and gas by around 20 percent to $10 billion annually, while reducing previously planned funding for renewables by more than $5 billion.
When it comes to state-owned companies on the list, several countries with some of the largest carbon-emitting companies have made pledges to decarbonise, to support a global green transition, including Saudi Arabia and The United Arab Emirates. However, Saudi’s Aramco was found to be the world’s biggest carbon emitter. The firm is estimated to be responsible for more than 4 percent of the entire world’s GHG emissions since 1965.
With just a few dozen companies producing most of the world’s carbon emissions, it demonstrates the dire need to restrict carbon-producing activities and encourage these oil majors to both invest in decarbonisation activities and diversify their energy mix. Many of the top 36 highest emitters are producing the same level of carbon emissions as entire countries, yet most are doing little to significantly reduce their emissions. If this trend continues, it may be impossible to achieve the climate aims outlined in the Paris Agreement, which could have devastating consequences.
