The Most Carbon Emissions.

Which Companies Are Responsible For the Most Carbon Emissions?

20 Companies Responsible For the Most Carbon Emissions?

Since 1965, it’s estimated over 1.35 million metric tons (MtCO₂e) of greenhouse gases have been released into the atmosphere—and over a third can be traced back to just 20 companies.

This week’s chart draws on a dataset from the Climate Accountability Institute, and highlights the companies which have been responsible for the most carbon emissions in the past half-century.

The Sum of their Carbon Emissions

Between 1965-2017, the top 20 companies have contributed 480,169 MtCO₂e in total carbon emissions, or 35% of cumulative global emissions. This whopping amount is mostly from the combustion of their products—each company on this chart deals in fossil fuels.

The largest contributor? Saudi Aramco, the national petroleum and natural gas company of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco actually comes in first on another list as well—it’s the most profitable company, making over $304 million daily.

However, this financial gain came at a significant cost: the state-owned giant’s operations have resulted in 59,262 MtCO₂e in carbon emissions since 1965. To put that into perspective, this total is more than six times China’s emissions in 2017 alone (9,838 MtCO₂e).

Explore the full list of companies by location, who owns them, and their total 1965–2017 emissions count below:

Company	Country	Ownership	All Emissions, MtCO₂e
Total Emissions			480,169 MtCO₂e
Saudi Aramco	Saudi Arabia	State-owned	59,262
Chevron	U.S.	Investor-owned	43,345
Gazprom	Russia	State-owned	43,230
Exxon Mobil	U.S.	Investor-owned	41,904
National Iranian Oil Co.	Iran	State-owned	35,658
BP	UK	Investor-owned	34,015
Royal Dutch Shell	Netherlands	Investor-owned	31,948
Coal India	India	State-owned	23,124
Pemex	Mexico	State-owned	22,645
Petroleus de Venezuela	Venezuela	State-owned	15,745
PetroChina	China	State-owned	15,632
Peabody Energy	U.S.	Investor-owned	15,385
ConocoPhillips	U.S.	Investor-owned	15,229
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.	UAE	State-owned	13,840
Kuwait Petroleum Corp.	Kuwait	State-owned	13,479
Iraq National Oil Co.	Iraq	State-owned	12,596
Total SA	France	Investor-owned	12,352
Sonatrach	Algeria	State-owned	12,302
BHP Billiton	Australia	Investor-owned	9,802
Petrobras	Brazil	State-owned	8,676

A Greener Business Model?

According to the researchers, all the companies that show up in today’s chart bear some responsibility for knowingly accelerating the climate crisis even after proven scientific evidence.

In fact, U.S.-based Exxon Mobil is currently on trial for misleading investors: the company downplayed the effect of climate change on its profitability, while internal calculations proved to be much larger. It also sowed public doubt on the immense impacts of rising greenhouse gas levels on the planet.

Growing sustainability and environmental concerns threaten the viability of old business models for these corporations, causing many to pivot away from the fossil fuel focus. Take BP for example—originally named British Petroleum, the company embraced “Beyond Petroleum” as its new rallying cry. More recently, it launched a carbon footprint calculator and is committed to keeping its carbon emissions flat into 2025.