“It is morally reprehensible for companies to continue expanding exploration and production of carbon fuels in the face of knowledge now for decades that their products are harmful,” said Richard Heede, who established the Carbon Majors dataset.
A report released by Carbon Majors on Thursday says that 57 companies were responsible for 80% of the world’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuel and cement production between 2016 to 2022.
Saudi Aramco, Russia’s state-owned energy company Gazprom, and state-owned producer Coal India were at the top of the list. Carbon Majors has been keeping track of which companies are contributing the most to the climate crisis since 2013.
“The Carbon Majors research shows us exactly who is responsible for the lethal heat, extreme weather, and air pollution that is threatening lives and wreaking havoc on our oceans and forests,” Tzeporah Berman, international program director at Stand.earth and chair at Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, said in a statement. “These companies have made billions of dollars in profits while denying the problem and delaying and obstructing climate policy.”
đ˘ @InfluenceMap's latest report using #CarbonMajors database found 57 fossil fuel and cement producers linked to 80% of global fossil CO2 emissions since the #ParisAgreement
The report states that nation-state producers account for 38% of CO2 emissions in the database. That’s the highest percentage of any of the types of companies listed in the database.
“The Carbon Majors database finds that most state- and investor-owned companies have expanded their production operations since the Paris agreement. Fifty-eight out of the 100 companies were linked to higher emissions in the seven years after the Paris agreement than in the same period before,” the report reads.
In terms of investor-owned companies, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and BP contributed the most to CO2 emissions. ExxonMobil alone was responsible for 3.6 gigatons of CO2 emissions over a seven-year period.
“It is morally reprehensible for companies to continue expanding exploration and production of carbon fuels in the face of knowledge now for decades that their products are harmful,” said Richard Heede, who established the Carbon Majors dataset, told The Guardian. “Don’t blame consumers who have been forced to be reliant on oil and gas due to government capture by oil and gas companies.”
CounterSpin interview with Evlondo Cooper on climate coverage
Janine Jackson interviewed Media Mattersâ Evlondo Cooper about climate coverage for the March 22, 2024, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript.
Janine Jackson: Climate disruption is, of course, one of the most disastrous phenomena of todayâs life, affecting every corner of the globe. Itâs also one of the most addressable. We know what causes it, we know what meaningful intervention would entail. So itâs a human-made tragedy unfolding in real time before our eyes.
To understate wildly, we need to be talking about it, learning about it, hearing about it urgently, which is why the results of our next guestâs research are so alarming. Iâll just spoil it: Broadcast news coverage of the climate crisis is going down.
Evlondo Cooper is a senior writer with the Climate and Energy Program at Media Matters for America. He joins us now by phone from Washington state. Welcome to CounterSpin, Evlondo Cooper.
Evlondo Cooper: Thank you for having me. Iâm excited about our conversation today.
JJ: Weâre talking about the latest of Media Mattersâ annual studies of climate crisis coverage. First of all, just tell us briefly what media you are looking at in these studies.
EC: So weâre looking at corporate broadcast network coverage. Thatâs ABC, CBS and NBC. And for the Sunday morning shows, we also include Fox BroadcastingâFox News Sunday.
JJ: All right. And then, for context, this decline in coverage that you found in the most recent study, thatâs down from very little to even less.
EC: Yeah, so a little context: 2021 and 2022 were both record years for climate coverage, and that coverage was a little bit more than 1%. This year, we saw a 25% decrease from 2022, which brought coverage to a little bit less than 1%. We want to encourage more coverage, but even in the years where they were doing phenomenal, it was only about 1% of total coverage. And so this retrenchment by approximately 25% in 2023 is not a welcome sign, especially in a year where we saw record catastrophic extreme weather events, and scientists are predicting that 2024 might be even worse than â23.
JJ: Letâs break out some of the things that you found. Weâre talking about such small numbersâwhen you say 1%, thatâs 1% of all of the broadcast coverage; of their stories, 1% were devoted to the climate crisis. But weâve seen, thereâs little things within it. For example, we are hearing more from actual climate scientists?
EC: That was a very encouraging sign, where this year we saw 41 climate scientists appeared, which was 10% of the featured guests in 2023, and thatâs up from 4% in 2022. So in terms of quality of coverage, I think weâre seeing improvements. Weâre seeing a lot of the work being done by dedicated climate correspondents, and meteorologists who are including climate coverage as part of their weather reports and their own correspondentsâ segments, a bigger part of their reporting.
So there are some encouraging signs. I think what concerns us is that these improvements, while important and necessary and appreciated, are not keeping up with the escalating scale of climate change.
JJ: Itâs just not appropriate to the seriousness of the topic. And then another thing is, you could say the dominance of white men in the conversation, which I know is another finding, thatâs just kind of par for the elite media course; when folks are talked to, they are overwhelmingly white men. But it might bear some relation to what youâre seeing as an underrepresentation of climate-impacted populations, looking at folks at the sharp end of climate disruption. Thatâs something you also consider.
EC: Yeah, we look at coverage of, broadly, climate justice. I think a lot of people believe itâs representation for representationâs sake, but I think when people most impacted by climate changeâand weâre talking about communities of color, weâre talking about low-income communities, weâre talking about low-wealth rural communitiesâwhen these folks are left out of the conversation, youâre missing important context about how climate change is impacting them, in many cases, first and worse. And youâre missing important context about the solutions that these communities are trying to employ to deal with it. And I think youâre missing an opportunity to humanize and broaden support for climate solutions at the public policy level.
So these arenât communities where these random acts of God are occurring; these are policy decisions, or indecisions, that have created an environment where these communities are being most harmed, but least talked about, and theyâre receiving the least redress to their challenges. And so those voices are necessary to tell those stories to a broad audience on the corporate broadcast networks.
Another finding that I thought was very interesting was that extreme weather seemed to be the biggest driver of climate coverage, and that, to me, suggests that the way corporate broadcast media are coming at climate disruption is reactive: âLook at what happened.â
EC: Totally.
JJ: And even when they say, âLook at whatâs happening,â and you know what, folks pretty much agree that this is due to climate disruption, these houses sliding into the river, itâs still not saying, âWhile you look at this disaster, know that this is preventable, and here is who is keeping us from acting on it and why.â
EC: Yeah, that is so insightful, because thatâs a core critique of even the best coverage we see, that there is no accountability for the fossil fuel industry and other industries that are driving the crisis. And then thereâs no realâsolutions are mentioned in about 20% of climate segments this year. But the solutions are siloed, like there are solution âsegments.â
But to your point, when weâre talking about extreme weather, when you have the most eyeballs hearing about climate change, to me, it would be very impactful to connect whatâs happening in that momentâthese wildfires, these droughts, these heat waves, these hurricanes and storms and floodingâto connect that to a key driver, fossil fuel industry, and talk about some potential solutions to mitigate these impacts while people are actually paying the most attention.
JJ: And then take it to your next story about Congress, or your next story about funding, and connect those dots.
EC: Exactly. I mean, climate is too often siloed. So you could see a really great segment, for instance, on the Willow Project, at the top of the hourâand this is on cable, but the example remainsâand then later in the hour, you saw a story about an extreme weather event. But those things arenât connected, theyâre siloed.
And so a key to improving coverage in an immediate way would be to understand that the climate crisis is the background for a range of issues, socioeconomic, political. Begin incorporating climate coverage in a much broader swath of stories that, whether you know it or not, indirectly or directly, are being impacted by global warming.
JJ: Itâs almost as though corporate media have decided that another horrible disaster due to climate change, while itâs a story, itâs basically now like a dog-bites-man story. And if they arenât going to explore these other angles, well, then there really isnât anything to report until the next drought or the next mudslide. And thatâs just a world away from what appropriate, fearless, future-believing journalism would be doing right now.
Evlondo Cooper: âIt doesnât have to be about just showing the destruction and carnage. There are ways that you can empower people to take action.â
EC: Itâs out of step, right? Pull up the poll showing bipartisan support for government climate action, because, whether people know it or not, as far as the science, âand thereâs some deniers out there, but anecdotally, people know something is happening, something is changing in their lives. Weâre seeing record-breaking things that no oneâs ever experienced, and they want the government to do something about it.
And so itâs important to cover extreme weather and to cover these catastrophes. And I know thereâs a range of thought out there that says if youâre just focusing on devastating impacts, it could dampen public action. But to me, to your point, report on it and connect it to solutions, empower people to call their congressperson, their representative, their senator, to vote in ways that have local impacts to deal with the local climate impacts.
It doesnât have to be about just showing the destruction and carnage. There are ways that you can empower people to take action in their own lives, and to galvanize public support.
And the public wants it. The public is asking for this. So I think just being responsive to what these polls are showing would be a way to immediately improve the way that they cover climate change right now.
JJ: All right, then. Weâve been speaking with Evlondo Cooper of Media Matters for America. You can find this work and much else at MediaMatters.org. Evlondo Cooper, thank you so much for joining us this week on CounterSpin.
A car gets submerged in flood waters in a pub car park in Sonning on Thames, Berkshire, UK. Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/REX/Shutterstock
Government has no credible plan for effects of extreme weather, says Committee on Climate Change
The UKâs plans for adapting to the effects of the climate crisis âfall far shortâ of what is required, the governmentâs statutory adviser has said.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has examined the national adaptation programme published by ministers last July, intended to set out how people, buildings and vital national infrastructure such as water, transport, energy and telecommunications networks could be protected from the increasing severity of storms, floods, heatwaves and droughts that are afflicting the UK as a result of global heating.
In a damning verdict delivered on Wednesday, the committee found that the government had no credible plan for making the UK resilient to the increasing effects of extreme weather.
Julia King, chair of the adaptation subcommittee of the CCC, said: âThe evidence of the damage from climate change has never been clearer, but the UKâs current approach to adaptation is not working.â
Scientists protest at UK Parliament 5 September 2023.
“The unprecedented temperatures for the time of year observed in Septemberâfollowing a record summerâhave broken records by an extraordinary amount.”
Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said Thursday that 2023 is on track to be the hottest year ever recorded following a string of scorching months, including an unusually warm September that stunned scientists.
Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo toldThe Associated Press that September was “just mindblowing” and that he has “never seen anything like that in any month in our records,” echoing the sentiments of other experts.
The European climate agency said Thursday that last month was the warmest September on record globally and “the most anomalous warm month of any year” in its dataset going back to 1940.
“The month as a whole was around 1.75°C warmer than the September average for 1850-1900, the preindustrial reference period,” the agency noted. “The global temperature for January-September 2023 was 0.52°C higher than average, and 0.05°C higher than the equivalent period in the warmest calendar year (2016).”
Samantha Burgess, Copernicus’ deputy director, said in a statement that “the unprecedented temperatures for the time of year observed in Septemberâfollowing a record summerâhave broken records by an extraordinary amount.”
“This extreme month has pushed 2023 into the dubious honor of first placeâon track to be the warmest year and around 1.4°C above preindustrial average temperatures,” Burgess added. “Two months out from COP28âthe sense of urgency for ambitious climate action has never been more critical.”
(Credit: Copernicus Climate Change Service/ECMWF)
The new Copernicus data came hours after the release of a United Nations report that called on nations worldwide to end fossil fuel exploration by 2030, warning that countries are not acting with sufficient urgency to rein in planet-heating pollution.
Simon Stiell, the U.N. climate chief, said the report “puts the cards on the tableâexcept this is not a game.”
“We know that we as the global community are not on track towards achieving the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement and that there is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future,” said Stiell.
Recent images of the devastating flash floods caused by Storm Daniel in Greece hit close to home literally and figuratively. As a Greek who has completed a PhD and worked for the past eight years on flash floods, the scenes unfolding across my homeland are painfully real: a stark reminder of the broader environmental challenges we face both on a local and a global scale.
These unprecedented flash floods were triggered by rainfall from the arrival of Storm Daniel on Monday September 4 which also affected Turkey and Bulgaria. The following day, in the village of Zagora, a record-breaking 754mm of rain fell in just 18 hours, leaving parts of the region of Thessaly in crisis and unable to respond.
To put this in perspective, London gets about 585mm of rain over the course of a year while Thessaly gets 495mm, meaning that on Tuesday September 5, about 1.5 yearsâ worth of rain fell in 18 hours. Imagine the most torrential rain you have ever experienced, perhaps a cloudburst lasting 20 minutes or so. Now imagine it raining that hard but without pause for an entire day.
Flash flooding is short in duration but extremely intense, and typically happens within six hours of heavy rainfall. Unlike regular floods, which develop more slowly and can be predicted in advance, flash floods catch people off guard due to their rapid onset and are rarely recorded in the field.
Greeceâs daily rainfall record was broken with 754 mm of rain in the village of Zagora â more than double the UKâs equivalent record. National Observatory of Athens/meteo.gr, CC BY-SA
Catastrophic effects
Across the three affected countries the floods have killed at least 18 people, with many others seeking refuge on their rooftops. There are ongoing power and water outages, infrastructure has been damaged, houses and even entire villages have been completely submerged.
I asked Andrew Barnes, an academic at the University of Bath with expertise in using AI to analyse extreme events why this event was so exceptional. He told me that throughout Tuesday, a strong low-pressure centre formed across the south of Greece creating a large rotating weather system known as a cyclone.
This cyclone carried large rain clouds from both the Mediterranean and Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey. But it did not dissipate, and instead its low-pressure centre moved southwest and settled just south of Italy, with its bands of rain clouds also moving south and covering most of mainland Greece.
Trending across the region
It is crucial to emphasise that flash floods are not confined to Greece alone. They are in fact part of a broader pattern of extreme weather that has become more intense and frequent across the Mediterranean region.
The authorâs friend saw this flooding in the village of Chorto. Irini Arabatzi
Researchers who looked at 150 years of flood data in the Mediterranean found that most were flash floods, with their highest occurrence during the summer and autumn months. The region is particularlysusceptible to these floods due to the combined effects of climate change and urbanisation. The latter has increased urban development in flood-prone areas and increased impervious surfaces (like roads and pavements), preventing the natural absorption of water into the ground.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changeâs chapter on the Mediterranean region issued a warning that extreme rainfall events are going to occur more often and be even more intense, elevating the risk of flash floods. This warning, in combination with records of flash floods in 2023 in Spain, Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria, France and Greece, underscores the urgent need for proactive measures to address these climate-related challenges.
Research is advancing
Flash floods might be rare, but they are severe enough to be a matter of significant concern. Fortunately, research has advanced considerably in recent years. Weâre now better able to forecast when flash floods might happen, which areas might be susceptible, and to assess their impact in real-time.
My colleagues and I are working on a project that combines historical documentary sources and modern hydraulic modelling. This way we can shed light on past floods and better understand the risks they pose, helping us design effective mitigation strategies for the future. Practically, in the case of a flash flood some basic but very important actions can be found on the poster below.
Tips from a flash floods expert. Ioanna Stamataki
A complete eradication of flooding is neither technically feasible nor economically affordable. Instead on a larger scale it is key to start identifying flash-flood prone areas especially in catchments with historical flash floods. We should then focus on advocating for climate action and resilience measures, which can be anything from âhardâ defences like new flood walls, through to policies and better public awareness of the risks. Only this will offer hope of a safer and more resilient future.
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