The 57 Companies Most Responsible for Global Carbon Emissions

As much as 80% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions between 2016 through 2022 can be traced to just 57 corporate and state fossil fuel and cement producers, think tank InfluenceMap said in a new report on Thursday.

In the seven years since the Paris Agreement of 2015, nation-state producers accounted for 38% of emissions in the database, while state-owned entities accounted for 37% and investor-owned companies made up 25% of global CO2 emissions, the research found.

Saudi oil giant Aramco, Russia’s gas giant Gazprom, and state-held producer Coal India were the top three carbon dioxide emitting companies, according to the researchers. 

InfluenceMap has also found that historically, investor-owned companies have accounted for 31% of all emissions tracked by the database since 1940, with Chevron, ExxonMobil, and BP the three largest contributors, respectively. State-owned companies have been linked to 33% of the database total, with Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, and the National Iranian Oil Company being the largest contributors.

The Carbon Majors database was originally released in 2013 by Richard Heede of the Climate Accountability Institute (CAI).

Last month, the latest emissions report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) showed that despite a decline in fossil fuel use in developed economies, global energy-related emissions rose in 2023 to another record-high level as coal use rose in major developing markets hit by low hydropower generation.

Global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions grew by 1.1% to reach a new record high of 37.4 billion tons last year, the IEA said in its CO2 Emissions in 2023 report. 

The rise in emissions was lower than the 1.3% increase in 2022, but the world’s energy-related CO2 emissions continued to grow to new heights in 2023, mainly due to higher coal use in developing economies.

Emissions from coal accounted for more than 65% of the increase in 2023, the IEA said. Part of the rise in coal-fired power generation was the result of a global shortfall in hydropower generation due to droughts.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

• Exxon Warns Q1 Profits Will Suffer Due to Lower Oil Prices
• U.S. Drilling Activity Slips Again
• Who Is Behind Iran-Backed Houthi Threats To Attack Saudi Arabia?