Coal and cement production from China and some of its biggest carbon-producing firms are the main sources of almost half of the world’s emissions, a new analysis has revealed.
To continue reading, subscribe to Eco‑Business.
There's something for everyone. We offer a range of subscription plans.
- Access our stories and receive our Insights Weekly newsletter with the free EB Member plan.
- Unlock unlimited access to our content and archive with EB Circle.
- Publish your content with EB Premium.
Eight Chinese entities, including state-owned coal giants CHN Energy and Jinneng Group are responsible for 17.3 per cent of global emissions, dominating institutions that represent 40.8 per cent of global emissions, according to online database Carbon Majors, operated by global nonprofit think tank InfluenceMap.
China, the largest producer and consumer of coal and coal power in the world, processed 4.36 billion tonnes of the fossil fuel, accounting for approximately half of global output in 2023.
Researchers said China’s coal emissions have been aggregated at the national level prior to 2005 due to the unavailability of historical production data from local producers.
The new data attributes emissions to individual companies, all of which are state-owned, confirming that “coal has been a significant driver of emissions in China both historically and in more recent years,” said Emmet Connaire, senior analyst at InfluenceMap.
Cement emissions from mainland China remain compiled at the national level due to the unavailability of historical production data from domestic cement producers and challenges in verifying the ownership structures of these entities, he added.
Apart from companies from China, other state-owned coal, oil and gas firms likewise dominate the the world’s highest emitters like Saudi Aramco, Coal India and National Iranian Oil Co, which were linked to 17.4 per cent of global fossil carbon dioxide emissions. The top investor-owned companies in 2023 were ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, TotalEnergies, and BP, and they accounted for 4.9 per cent of global fossil emissions.
The report also includes historic data from 1854 to 2023, showing that since the Industrial Revolution, two thirds of carbon emissions have come from 180 companies, mainly from Russia, China and investor-owner companies like Chevron and ExxonMobil.
The new data has strengthened the case for holding fossil fuel companies to account for their contribution to global heating, according to report authors. Previous versions of the annual report have been used in legal cases against companies, including the climate litigation case of the Philippines’ Commission on Human Rights enquiry into corporate responsibility for climate-related human rights violations.
