32 Fossil Fuel Companies Responsible for Half of Global CO2 Emissions in 2024: Report

State-controlled fossil fuel companies dominated global emissions that year. Most of the states that controlled them opposed a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels at COP30 last November.

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32 companies, mostly state-owned, generated half of all planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions in 2024, according to a new analysis. The number is down from 36 five years earlier.

Newly updated figures in the Carbon Majors dataset, a comprehensive list of corporate fossil fuel producers’ contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions, reveal that emissions from these companies rose across all regions in 2024 compared to the year prior. Asian companies, mostly China-owned, remained the largest contributor, accounting for nearly a third of global fossil CO2 emissions tracked in the database.

State-Controlled Companies Account for Largest Share

State-controlled companies were responsible for 57% of global fossil CO2 emissions. CO2, a byproduct of burning fossil fuels, biomass, land-use changes, and industrial processses such as cement production, is the principal human-made greenhouse has in the atmosphere, responsible for about three-quarters of planet-warming emissions.

The database also shows that 17 of the top-20 emitters are controlled by governments that opposed a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels at COP30 last November: Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Iraq, Qatar, and India. The roadmap, supported by a coalition of over 80 countries, ultimately failed to materialize.

The remaining three emitters in the top-20 were UK-based Shell and US-based Chevron and ExxonMobil.

Heatwaves ‘Virtually Impossible’ Without Carbon Majors’ Emissions

The Carbon Majors dataset has been used to link these companies’ emissions to a range of climate impacts, including heatwaves.

A study published in Nature last year found that the emissions generated by 180 Carbon Majors have intensified hundreds of heatwaves worldwide this century. 14 companies alone polluted enough to individually cause over 50 heatwaves, which scientists say would have otherwise been virtually impossible. These include Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and Shell. It was the first time that individual companies were linked to specific, sometimes deadly heatwaves, such as the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat dome and the 2023 European heatwaves.

Human-caused climate change, which is primarily driven by greenhouse gases, has increased the frequency and intensity of heatwaves since the 1950s. Every heatwave in the world is now made stronger and more likely to happen because of it.