Just 36 companies account for 50% of global CO2 emissions, report reveals

The big picture: A recent analysis of emissions data from the Carbon Majors database has revealed a troubling trend: emissions from the world’s largest oil, gas, coal, and cement producers increased in 2023 compared to the previous year. This rise is particularly alarming given the overwhelming scientific evidence linking greenhouse gas emissions to catastrophic global warming.

The data indicates that over 50 percent of these emissions can be attributed to just 36 high-emitting companies, with state-owned enterprises playing a significant role.

In 2023, 93 companies in the database increased their emissions, including 50 investor-owned firms. State-owned enterprises dominated global emissions, with 16 of the top 20 state-owned emitters contributing 52 percent. Chinese companies were particularly prominent, accounting for 23 percent of global fossil fuel and cement-related CO₂ emissions, maintaining their lead from the previous year.

Cement emissions saw a significant rise, with four of the five companies experiencing the greatest relative increases in emissions being cement producers: Holcim Group, Heidelberg Materials, UltraTech Cement, and CRH.

The Carbon Majors database has been instrumental in advancing climate accountability worldwide. It has been used as evidence in legal cases and regulatory actions, including supporting Climate Superfund laws in Vermont and New York.

The database has also been referenced in efforts to quantify the role of fossil fuel companies in exacerbating extreme weather events and in legal advocacy for potential criminal charges against fossil fuel executives.

The top five state-owned emitters – Saudi Aramco, Coal India, CHN Energy, National Iranian Oil Co., and Jinneng Group – were responsible for 17.4 percent of global CO₂ emissions in 2023. Meanwhile, the top five investor-owned emitters – ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, TotalEnergies, and BP – accounted for 4.9 percent of global emissions.

If Saudi Aramco were a country, it would rank as the fourth largest emitter globally, while ExxonMobil’s emissions are comparable to Germany’s.

The dataset, which spans emissions from 1854 to 2023, reveals that 67.5 percent of anthropogenic industrial CO₂ emissions since the Industrial Revolution can be traced to 180 corporate and state-producing entities.

The International Energy Agency has emphasized that new fossil fuel projects initiated after 2021 are incompatible with achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, an increasingly urgent goal as global emissions continue to rise.

To meet the internationally agreed target of limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C, global emissions must decrease by 45 percent by 2030. However, with emissions still on the rise, the challenge of mitigating climate change remains daunting.