Half of Global Carbon Emissions Come From Just 36 Fossil Fuel Companies, Study Says

According to the latest update to the Carbon Majors database, produced by InfluenceMap, just 36 companies are linked to more than half of global carbon emissions.

In total, Carbon Majors has traced 33.9 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) emissions to 169 active companies in its database for 2023, with its database emissions making up 78.4% of total carbon emissions from fossil fuels and cement. 

Thirty-six companies are responsible for more than half of these emissions, according to the analysis. Further, the 2023 emissions total increased 0.7% compared to 2022.

“Global GHG emissions continue to rise, with over half of all fossil CO2 emissions coming from just 36 companies, as the latest InfluenceMap findings reveal,” Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said in a statement. “While a few profit-driven corporations continue to expand fossil fuel infrastructure, climate disasters are hitting hardest in regions where people have contributed the least, damaging the lives of millions and pushing us closer to unmanageable tipping points. A global turnaround is not just urgent — it’s essential, and it must start with these key players.”

For 2023, coal was responsible for the highest amount of emissions, about 41.1% of all emissions in the database. The total of coal emissions has increased since 2016, InfluenceMap reported. Cement-related emissions had the largest rate of increase, 6.5%, since 2022.

Despite global governmental and company pledges to reduce emissions to curb the worst effects of climate change, the updated data revealed that 93 companies increased emissions from 2022 to 2023, three companies had little to no changes in emissions, and 73 of the entities had decreased emissions.

“It is clearer than ever that dirty private companies, driven by profits and business as usual, will never choose to self-regulate,” Tzeporah Berman, founder and co-chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, said in a statement. “Governments around the world must use their power to end fossil fuel expansion and transition their economies before fossil fuel companies destroy the planet.”

However, it’s not just private companies that are topping the list of highest emitters. The 20 highest emitters made up 17.5 GtCO2e in 2023, with 16 of these top 20 being state-owned companies. According to the data, the five highest state-owned entity emitters included Saudi Aramco, Coal India, CHN Energy, National Iranian Oil Co. and Jinneng Group, while the five highest investor-owned company emitters for 2023 included ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, TotalEnergies and BP.

As The Guardian reported, if the highest emitting state-owned entity, Saudi Aramco, was a country, it would rank fourth as the highest global polluter. ExxonMobil would have a similar amount of emissions as all of Germany, which is the ninth most polluting country in the world.

Beyond 2023, the database has accounted for 1,388 GtCO2e from 1854 through 2023, with these emissions linked to 180 industrial entities. According to InfluenceMap, the carbon dioxide from the cumulative historical emissions in the database is equal to nearly 68% of all fossil fuel and cement carbon emissions on Earth since 1750, and one-third of the historic global carbon emissions can be traced to 26 companies.

With the latest updates to its Carbon Majors database, InfluenceMap is urging governments to establish more accountability and sustainable changes for industry entities, which account for such a large, and increasing, share of emissions.

“While states drag their heels on their Paris Agreement commitments, state-owned companies are dominating global emissions — ignoring the desperate needs of their citizens,” said Christiana Figueres, global climate leader and former executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change when the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015. “The science is clear: we cannot move backwards to more fossil fuels and more extraction. Instead, we must move forward to the many possibilities of a decarbonized economic system that works for people and the planet.”