Just 57 companies in the world emit 80% of global greenhouse gases

Worldwide, only 57 companies belonging to the energy and cement sectors are responsible for 80% of climate-changing gas emissions.Among these, there is also the Italian Eni.This was demonstrated, with data in hand, by research based on the "Carbon Majors" platform - a database created in 2013 by Richard Heede of the Climate Accountability Institute in the USA -, carried out by the London-based non-profit think tank InfluenceMap.The statistics cover a very broad time period, ranging from 1854 to 2022, but the report places a particular focus on the period between 2016, when governments around the world signed the Paris climate agreements, until 2022.In fact, in this phase alone, 251 billion tons of CO2 were released into the atmosphere.

Historically, investor-owned companies account for 31% of all emissions tracked by the database, with America's Chevron and ExxonMobil and Britain's BP taking center stage.State-owned companies are linked to 33% of the total database:here Saudi Aramco, Gazprom and the National Iranian Oil Company stand out.National states represent the remaining 36%, with China and the former Soviet Union as major emitters.The case of Beijing is emblematic, whose coal production increased by around 30 percent from 2016 to 2022.THE'examination of the statistics offered by Carbon Majors shows that, following the Paris Agreement, there has been a progressive shift in the supply of coal from investor-owned companies to state-controlled entities.Emissions linked to the production of coal by state-owned companies and national states have in fact increased by 29% and 19% respectively.In Asia, 13 out of 15 companies analyzed emitted more CO2 in the period 2016-2022 compared to the previous six years, as did 7 out of 10 of those active in the Middle East.In Europe 13 out of 23 companies increased their emissions, in South America 3 out of 5, in Australia 3 out of 4 and in Africa 3 out of 6.Only in one case, that of North America, is there an increase in emissions linked to a minority of companies among those examined, which are 16 out of 37.As far as our country is concerned, Eni is in the gas and oil sectors turns out the tenth largest private company by emissions in the world, while it slips to thirty-second place if all 122 entities analyzed within the database are taken into account.Following the signing of the Paris agreements, the Italian giant slightly reduced oil production, while increasing gas production.

“Carbon Majors research shows us exactly who is responsible for the deadly heat, extreme weather and air pollution that are threatening human lives and devastating our oceans and forests – ha declared, commenting on the results, Tzeporah Berman, director of the international program of Stand.earth and president of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Fossil Fuels -.These companies have made billions of dollars in profits denying the problem and delaying and obstructing climate policy.They are spending millions on advertising campaigns to be part of a sustainable solution, while continuing to invest in more fossil fuel extraction.These findings highlight that, more than ever, we need our governments to stand up to these companies, and we need one new international cooperation through a Fossil Fuel Treaty to end fossil fuel expansion and ensure a truly just transition."

[by Stefano Baudino]