Norm Dixon
A landmark report, commissioned by the environmental group Friends of the Earth and released on January 29, has revealed that the operations and products of the world's largest oil corporation, Exxon Mobil and its predecessors (beginning with the Standard Oil Trust) are responsible for up to 5.3% of the world's total human-made carbon dioxide emissions since 1882. Carbon dioxide emissions are the principal cause of global warming.
The figures contained in the report calculate that the company's total carbon dioxide emissions in the past 120 years amount to 20.3 billion tonnes. This is the equivalent of about three times the current total annual global emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels and about 13 times current annual US emissions.
The report, "Exxon's Climate Footprint", is based on two groundbreaking studies carried out by independent experts and commissioned by Friends of the Earth.
This is the first time that a company's historic contribution to global climate change has been calculated, and could prove vital in paving the way for compensation claims against the company by victims of global warming caused by corporate pollution.
The report shows Exxon Mobil's emissions have generally been highest after 1996, the year when United Nations scientists concluded that human-made pollution was creating a discernible negative impact on the global climate. Around 70% of the company's emissions have occurred since 1967, when scientists produced "the first reasonably solid evidence" that global warming could really happen, according to the American Institute of Physics's The Discovery of Global Warming: Timeline of Milestones ().
The predicted impact of global warming is huge. Across the planet, hundreds of millions of people could lose their lives or livelihoods because of changing rainfall patterns and more severe storms. Impacts could include lower agricultural yields, loss of land and rising sea levels and increased desertification.
The research carried out by independent experts in the US and New Zealand involved adding up data on fuel used and sold, calculating the emissions generated and feeding the results into an internationally recognised computer model. The research, based on data Exxon Mobil has published in its annual reports and from other sources, also shows the impact the company's emissions have had on global temperatures and the rise in sea level.
Exxon Mobil was chosen as the first company for such an assessment because it has repeatedly attempted to undermine the scientific consensus on the existence of climate change and has actively resisted attempts to limit carbon dioxide emissions.
Tony Juniper, vice-chairperson of Friends of the Earth International, said: "This report should send shivers through the boardrooms of oil companies all over the world. For the first time, the historic effect of one company on climate change has been identified and its products' impacts assessed. We hope this assessment will bring forward the day when the victims of climate change can take legal action against Exxon Mobil for the damage its activities have caused and will cause in the future."
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From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, February 4, 2004.
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