180 high-emitting companies linked to 213 extreme heat events: Study 

The study found that carbon majors such as Saudi Aramco, ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and Shell, alone polluted enough to individually cause over 50 heatwaves

Heatwaves caused by climate change can now be specifically attributed to the polluting actions of big corporations, which are termed carbon majors, according to a new study published in Nature. 

The study linked pollution from 180 fossil fuel and cement companies as the cause of 213 heatwaves between 2000-2023. This includes some recent deadly ones like the Pacific Northwest heat dome (2021) and the European heatwaves (2023). 

According to the study, 14 companies including Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and Shell, alone polluted enough to individually cause over 50 heatwaves that would have been impossible without climate change. 

Climate change made heatwaves 200 times more likely in the 2010s, meaning that there was a tenfold increase from the 2000s, found the study.

Corporates biggest contributor to climate change

“The International Court of Justice just said that fossil fuel production may be an internationally wrongful act that entitles victims to reparations. Well, here’s the evidence courts have been waiting for. We can finally put a name and a number on who’s responsible for these disasters. The bill is coming due, and it’s time these polluters pay for the damage they’ve done,” said Cassidy DiPaola, spokesperson for the Make Polluters Pay campaign. 

Indian companies such as Coal India, ONGC India, Singareni Collieries and Adani Enterprises were attributed to be among the highest emitters, according to the study. 

The study’s calculations said that emissions from Coal India alone were sufficient to make 51 of the 213 analysed heatwaves between 2000 and 2023 possible, while ONGC and Singareni individually would contribute to 50 heat events. Adani Enterprises, on the other hand, would be responsible for 31 such heat events, found the study. 

Globally, emissions from Norwegian companies like Equinor and Petoro both individually were sufficient to make 50 of the 213 analysed heatwaves, as well as UK oil major BP, found the report.

This study could have important implications for climate litigation, including the two legal cases over the impacts of the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat dome and in relation to “climate superfund” laws in the US, including in Vermont and New York.

Considering that the International Court of Justice has ruled that countries, and by extension companies, could be held responsible for climate change impacts, and people and communities affected are entitled to reparations, such research can only help strengthen litigation laws.

“With more and more lawsuits aiming to hold companies responsible for contributing to climate change impacts, work like this provides the basis for well-informed judicial decision-making and with clearer scientific proof of the impacts of companies emissions, firms’ exposure to legal risks is continuing to rise,” said Dr. Rupert Stuart-Smith, Deputy Director of the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme at the University of Oxford.

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