Oil Should Stay in the GroundAnd Get Out of Politics
July 8, 2023
David Suziki, COMMON DREAMS
With all the problems in the world, from massive inequality to the climate crisis, you’d think voluntary guidelines to improve corporate environmental and social practices would be a no-brainer. After all, addressing those critical issues can also boost a company’s bottom line. Click here
Big Oil’s Pullback From Clean Energy Matters Less Than You Might Think
June 2023
Bloomberg
The world’s five biggest publicly listed oil and gas companies posted just under $200 billion in total profits last year. In other words, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., BP Plc, Shell Plc and TotalEnergies SE “choose cash over climate”. Click here
The Evolution of Corporate Accountability for Climate Change
November 2022
R. Heede
This is chapter 12 of the book ‘Litigating the Climate Emergency’, how human rights, courts and legal mobilization can bolster climate actions. As the climate emergency intensifies, rights-based climate cases - litigation that is based on human rights law - are becoming an increasingly important tool for securing more ambitious climate action. This book is the first to offer a systematic analysis of the universe of these cases known as human rights and climate change (HRCC) cases. Chapter 12 is authored by Richard Heede. Click here
Carbon producers' tar pit: dinosaurs beware: The path to accountability of fossil fuel producers for climate change & climate damages.
October 2017
R. Heede
This paper traces the evolution of a project to quantify the contribution to atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane arising from the operational emissions of fossil fuel company supply chains and the sale of carbon fuels to consumers. Click here
Carbon Majors: Accounting for carbon and methane emissions 1854-2010 Methods and Results Report
April 2014
R. Heede (Climate Mitigation Services)
This objective of this report by Richard Heede, is to quantify and trace historic and cumulative emissions of carbon dioxide and methane to the largest extant fossil fuel and cement producers. This project focuses on the industrial carbon fuels and cement manufacturing, and details the annual and cumulative contribution of each of the largest 90 producers from as early as 1854 (but typically later) to 2010. Click here
Tracing anthropogenic carbon dioxide and methane emissions to fossil fuel and cement producers, 1854–2010
November 2013
R. Heede
This paper authored by Richard Heede presents a quantitative analysis of the historic fossil fuel and cement production records of 50 investor-owned, 31 state-owned and 9 nation-state producers of oil, natural gas, coal and cement from as early as 1854 to 2010. Click here
The rise in global atmospheric CO2, surface temperature, and sea level from emissions traced to major carbon producers.
September 2017
R. Heede, et al
In this paper, Richard Heede traces the annual CO2 and CH2 emissions between 1854 and 2010 to 83 industrial producers of oil, natural gas, coal, and seven cement manufacturers with annual production exceeding 8 Million Tonnes Carbon (MtC)/year in 2006. Of these 90major carbon producers, 50 are investor-owned, 31 majority state-owned, and nine are current or former centrally planned state industries. Click here
Lost Decade: How Shell Downplayed Early Warnings Over Climate Change.
March 2023
Matthew Green
This report is part of a collection of 201 company documents, official correspondence, reports, academic studies, and other materials that cast new light on what Shell knew about climate change — and what it chose to tell the public. Click here
How Much Have the Oil Supermajors Contributed to Climate Change?
March 2022
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
This study from the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment investigates how much the “Oil Supermajors”—BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies —the six largest publicly traded oil companies by revenue and political influence, contributed to climate change. The study estimates the global carbon footprint of the oil refining and petroleum sales sectors, adopting a supply-chain approach. The study also assesses the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions from the oil refining and petroleum products sales businesses of the Oil Supermajors. Click here
Summary of 2018 Multnomah County Carbon Emissions and Trends. December. 18, 2020
December 2020
Bureau of Planning and Sustainability
This document summarizes Portland and Multnomah County’s carbon emissions inventory and trends for the years 1990-2018. Portland and Multnomah County have been tracking local carbon emission for nearly 30 years using an annual sector-based emissions inventory. Click here
Early oil industry knowledge of CO2 and global warming.
November 2018
B. Franta, Nature Climate Change
In this letter to the editor of Nature Climate Change, Benjamin Franta highlights how as far back as 1954 scientists began using carbon isotopes in measuring atmospheric CO2 from fossil fuels. Click here
The Climate Responsibilities of Industrial Carbon Producers
July 2015
R. Heede, N. Oreskes, P. Fumhoff
In this essay presented by the authors to Climate Change they explore the responsibility of major investor-owned producers of fossil fuels for climate change. They consider the distinctive responsibilities of the major investor-owned producers of fossil fuels, assessing the actions these companies took and could have taken to act upon the scientific evidence of climate change. They conclude that major investor-owned fossil energy companies carry significant responsibility for climate change. Click here
