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Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Report exposes $28 trillion in damage tied to five powerful companies: 'The veil of plausible deniability doesn't exist anymore'
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways Heat-trapping pollution from dirty fuel companies caused an estimated $28 trillion in global economic damages from extreme heat alone between 1991 and 2020, and scientists say there's no longer room for denial. What's happening? In a study published in the journal Nature, researchers at Dartmouth College used peer-reviewed methods to link pollution from 111 major fossil fuel companies to rising global temperatures and climate-related damages over a period of three decades. As CBS News detailed, the study found that about a third of the total $28 trillion in damages could be traced to just five companies: Saudi Aramco ($2.05 trillion); Gazprom ($2 trillion); Chevron ($1.98 trillion); ExxonMobil ($1.91 trillion); and BP ($1.45 trillion). Researchers used computer simulations to model how the planet's temperature would have changed without pollution from each company, using emissions figures from the Carbon Majors database. They then connected each company's contribution to global temperature changes to economic losses caused by extreme heat — such as impacts on crops, public health, and infrastructure. "The veil of plausible deniability doesn't exist anymore scientifically," said Justin Mankin, co-author of the study. "We can actually trace harms back to major emitters." While lawsuits against dirty fuel companies over climate damages have struggled in court, scientists say this research makes the connection between corporate pollution and climate harm clearer than ever before. Why are these findings important? Assigning dollar amounts to corporate pollution helps make the impact more tangible — and harder for companies to dismiss. It also means big polluters could be held liable for the damages caused by their contribution to the planet's overheating. Extreme heat is only one of the many consequences of rising global temperatures, meaning the true cost is probably even higher than the study's estimate. Human-driven changes in climate have been linked by many studies to more intense extreme weather events such as hurricanes, droughts, and wildfires — all of which cause costly destruction. Should the government be allowed to restrict how much water we use? Definitely Only during major droughts No way I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. For homeowners and businesses, it's becoming more difficult to get insurance, especially in high-risk areas, and some insurance companies are canceling coverage or pulling out of markets altogether. With public support growing for stronger climate action, connecting polluters directly to the damages they cause could help strengthen legal cases and support people and businesses who have been affected. It could also encourage companies to do more to reduce their carbon pollution. What's being done about holding polluters accountable? Around the world, individuals and governments are filing lawsuits against major companies to recover costs associated with the overheating planet. Out of 68 cases so far, 70% have been filed since the Paris Agreement in 2015, according to Zero Carbon Analytics. Governments are taking steps like taxing companies based on the pollution they generate, proposing reparations to countries disproportionately affected, and requiring more corporate transparency on environmental impacts. At the same time, consumers can drive change by supporting clean energy options, such as solar and wind power, voting for pro-climate candidates, and supporting eco-friendly initiatives by mainstream brands. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Daily Mail
25-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
The real cost of climate change: Shocking report reveals how just 111 companies have cost the world $28 TRILLION in climate damage
From drought-fueled wildfires in California to catastrophic floods in New England, it's difficult to deny g lobal warming is creating a spiralling climate crisis. Now, a new study squarely points the finger at those largely responsible. Scientists at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire say just 111 companies have cost the world a whopping $28 trillion (£21 trillion) in climate damage since the early 1990s. At the top of the list is oil company Saudi Aramco, which is responsible for $2.05 trillion in global economic losses from intensifying extreme heat. Also culpable are Russian energy company Gazprom (responsible for about $2 trillion in losses) and American oil and gas giant Chevron ($1.98 trillion in losses). Others in the top 10 list are fossil fuel burners ExxonMobil, BP (British Petroleum), Shell, National Iranian Oil Co., Pemex, Coal India and the British Coal Corporation. Without these offenders, the 'climate catastrophe' likely would not be happening, the experts say. 'We argue that the scientific case for climate liability is closed,' said study author Justin Mankin, climate researcher at Dartmouth College. Around a third of total losses ($9 trillion/£6.7 trillion) were attributable to the five top-emitting firms – Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, Chevron, ExxonMobil and BP Energy companies such as Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, Chevron ExxonMobil and BP extract fossil fuels from the Earth such as oil and gas. When these fossil fuels are burnt to harvest their energy, they release vast quantities of planet-warming gases into the atmosphere, like carbon dioxide and methane. But the damage as a result of this global warming – in the form of wildfires, crop damage and extreme weather events like floods and storms – has a huge financial cost. This new study links emissions from some of the trillion-dollar fossil-fuel companies with specific damages linked to climate change. It's possible due to an increased availability of climate and socioeconomic data, plus methodological advances in 'climate attribution science' – a form of modeling that allows scientists to track the effects of climate change almost in real time. Results show extreme heat linked to carbon dioxide and methane from the 111 companies cost the world economy $28 trillion from 1991 to 2020. Around a third of total losses ($9 trillion/£6.7 trillion) were attributable to the five top-emitting firms – Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, Chevron, ExxonMobil and BP. Emissions linked to Chevron, the highest-emitting investor-owned company in the data, likely caused up to $3.6 trillion (£2.7 trillion) in heat-related losses over the period, the team report. Pollution from Chevron, for example, has raised the Earth´s temperature by 0.045°F (0.025°C). According to the researchers, more than half of the 111 companies are based in the US – but the US, as well as Europe, see 'milder costs from extreme heat' compared with South America, Africa and Southeast Asia. They also figure that every one per cent of greenhouse gas put into the atmosphere since 1990 has caused $502 billion in damage from heat alone – so not including costs incurred by other extreme weather such as hurricanes, droughts and floods. The team compare the liability of fossil fuel companies today to the damage caused by pharmaceutical and tobacco companies in the 20th century. In fact, the team think it will soon be possible to successfully sue big companies for damaging the climate. Already, local and national governments have directly sought compensation from fossil fuel companies, but many of these actions are being challenged or slowed in court. This is partly due to the difficulty in showing that specific climate impacts occurred because of any one company's greenhouse gas emissions. The research firm Zero Carbon Analytics counts 68 lawsuits filed globally about climate change damage, with more than half of them in the United States. 'Just as a pharmaceutical company would not be absolved from the negative effects of a drug by the benefits of that drug, fossil fuel companies should not be excused for the damage they've caused by the prosperity their products have generated,' added Callahan. The study, published in Nature, answers a question first posed in 2003 of whether science could ever link an individual firm's emissions to climate change. 'Over 20 years later, we find the answer to be yes,' said Professor Mankin, who directs the Climate Modeling and Impacts Group at Dartmouth. 'Our framework can provide robust emissions-based attributions of climate damages at the corporate scale. 'This should help courts better evaluate liability claims for the losses and disruptions resulting from human-caused climate change.' Michael Mann, a University of Pennsylvania climate scientist who wasn't involved in the study, thinks there are many other climate variables unaccounted for. So the numbers that Callahan and Mankin came up with are probably a vast underestimate of the damage the companies have really caused, he said.
Time of India
24-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
The world's biggest companies have caused $28 trillion in climate damage, a new study estimates
Washington: The world's biggest corporations have caused $28 trillion in climate damage , a new study estimates as part of an effort to make it easier for people and governments to hold companies financially accountable, like the tobacco giants have been. A Dartmouth College research team came up with the estimated pollution caused by 111 companies, with more than half of the total dollar figure coming from 10 fossil fuel providers : Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, National Iranian Oil Co., Pemex, Coal India and the British Coal Corporation. For comparison, $28 trillion is a shade less than the sum of all goods and services produced in the United States last year. At the top of the list, Saudi Aramco and Gazprom have each caused a bit more than $2 trillion in heat damage over the decades, the team calculated in a study published in Wednesday's journal Nature. The researchers figured that every 1% of greenhouse gas put into the atmosphere since 1990 has caused $502 billion in damage from heat alone, which doesn't include the costs incurred by other extreme weather such as hurricanes, droughts and floods. People talk about making polluters pay, and sometimes even take them to court or pass laws meant to rein them in. The study is an attempt to determine "the causal linkages that underlie many of these theories of accountability," said its lead author, Christopher Callahan, who did the work at Dartmouth but is now an Earth systems scientist at Stanford University. The research firm Zero Carbon Analytics counts 68 lawsuits filed globally about climate change damage, with more than half of them in the United States. "Everybody's asking the same question: What can we actually claim about who has caused this?" said Dartmouth climate scientist Justin Mankin, co-author of the study. "And that really comes down to a thermodynamic question of can we trace climate hazards and/or their damages back to particular emitters?" The answer is yes, Callahan and Mankin said. The researchers started with known final emissions of the products - such as gasoline or electricity from coal-fired power plants - produced by the 111 biggest carbon-oriented companies going as far back as 137 years, because that's as far back as any of the companies' emissions data go and carbon dioxide stays in the air for much longer than that. They used 1,000 different computer simulations to translate those emissions into changes for Earth's global average surface temperature by comparing it to a world without that company's emissions. Using this approach, they determined that pollution from Chevron, for example, has raised the Earth's temperature by .045 degrees Fahrenheit (.025 degrees Celsius). The researchers also calculated how much each company's pollution contributed to the five hottest days of the year using 80 more computer simulations and then applying a formula that connects extreme heat intensity to changes in economic output. This system is modeled on the established techniques scientists have been using for more than a decade to attribute extreme weather events, such as the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave, to climate change. Mankin said that in the past, there was an argument of, "Who's to say that it's my molecule of CO2 that's contributed to these damages versus any other one?" He said his study "really laid clear how the veil of plausible deniability doesn't exist anymore scientifically. We can actually trace harms back to major emitters." Shell declined to comment. Aramco, Gazprom, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and BP did not respond to requests for comment. "All methods they use are quite robust," said Imperial College London climate scientist Friederike Otto, who heads World Weather Attribution, a collection of scientists who try rapid attribution studies to see if specific extreme weather events are worsened by climate change and, if so, by how much. She didn't take part in the study. "It would be good in my view if this approach would be taken up more by different groups. As with event attribution, the more groups do it, the better the science gets and the better we know what makes a difference and what does not," Otto said. So far, no climate liability lawsuit against a major carbon emitter has been successful, but maybe showing "how overwhelmingly strong the scientific evidence" is can change that, she said. In the past, damage caused by individual companies were lost in the noise of data, so it couldn't be calculated, Callahan said. "We have now reached a point in the climate crisis where the total damages are so immense that the contributions of a single company's product can amount to tens of billions of dollars a year," said Chris Field, a Stanford University climate scientist who didn't take part in the research. This is a good exercise and proof of concept, but there are so many other climate variables that the numbers that Callahan and Mankin came up with are probably a vast underestimate of the damage the companies have really caused, said Michael Mann, a University of Pennsylvania climate scientist who wasn't involved in the study. ___ Follow Seth Borenstein on X at @borenbears. The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
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Business Standard
24-04-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
World's biggest companies have caused $28 trillion in climate damage: Study
The world's biggest corporations have caused $28 trillion in climate damage, a new study estimates as part of an effort to make it easier for people and governments to hold companies financially accountable, like the tobacco giants have been. A Dartmouth College research team came up with the estimated pollution caused by 111 companies, with more than half of the total dollar figure coming from 10 fossil fuel providers: Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, National Iranian Oil Co., Pemex, Coal India and the British Coal Corporation. For comparison, $28 trillion is a shade less than the sum of all goods and services produced in the United States last year. At the top of the list, Saudi Aramco and Gazprom have each caused a bit more than $2 trillion in heat damage over the decades, the team calculated in a study published in Wednesday's journal Nature. The researchers figured that every 1 per cent of greenhouse gas put into the atmosphere since 1990 has caused $502 billion in damage from heat alone, which doesn't include the costs incurred by other extreme weather such as hurricanes, droughts and floods. People talk about making polluters pay, and sometimes even take them to court or pass laws meant to rein them in. The study is an attempt to determine the causal linkages that underlie many of these theories of accountability, said its lead author, Christopher Callahan, who did the work at Dartmouth but is now an Earth systems scientist at Stanford University. The research firm Zero Carbon Analytics counts 68 lawsuits filed globally about climate change damage, with more than half of them in the United States. Everybody's asking the same question: What can we actually claim about who has caused this? said Dartmouth climate scientist Justin Mankin, co-author of the study. And that really comes down to a thermodynamic question of can we trace climate hazards and/or their damages back to particular emitters? The answer is yes, Callahan and Mankin said. The researchers started with known final emissions of the products such as gasoline or electricity from coal-fired power plants produced by the 111 biggest carbon-oriented companies going as far back as 137 years, because that's as far back as any of the companies' emissions data go and carbon dioxide stays in the air for much longer than that. They used 1,000 different computer simulations to translate those emissions into changes for Earth's global average surface temperature by comparing it to a world without that company's emissions. Using this approach, they determined that pollution from Chevron, for example, has raised the Earth's temperature by .045 degrees Fahrenheit (.025 degrees Celsius). The researchers also calculated how much each company's pollution contributed to the five hottest days of the year using 80 more computer simulations and then applying a formula that connects extreme heat intensity to changes in economic output. This system is modeled on the established techniques scientists have been using for more than a decade to attribute extreme weather events, such as the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave, to climate change. Mankin said that in the past, there was an argument of, Who's to say that it's my molecule of CO2 that's contributed to these damages versus any other one? He said his study really laid clear how the veil of plausible deniability doesn't exist anymore scientifically. We can actually trace harms back to major emitters. Shell declined to comment. Aramco, Gazprom, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and BP did not respond to requests for comment. All methods they use are quite robust, said Imperial College London climate scientist Friederike Otto, who heads World Weather Attribution, a collection of scientists who try rapid attribution studies to see if specific extreme weather events are worsened by climate change and, if so, by how much. She didn't take part in the study. It would be good in my view if this approach would be taken up more by different groups. As with event attribution, the more groups do it, the better the science gets and the better we know what makes a difference and what does not, Otto said. So far, no climate liability lawsuit against a major carbon emitter has been successful, but maybe showing how overwhelmingly strong the scientific evidence is can change that, she said. In the past, damage caused by individual companies were lost in the noise of data, so it couldn't be calculated, Callahan said. We have now reached a point in the climate crisis where the total damages are so immense that the contributions of a single company's product can amount to tens of billions of dollars a year, said Chris Field, a Stanford University climate scientist who didn't take part in the research. This is a good exercise and proof of concept, but there are so many other climate variables that the numbers that Callahan and Mankin came up with are probably a vast underestimate of the damage the companies have really caused, said Michael Mann, a University of Pennsylvania climate scientist who wasn't involved in the study.
CBS News
23-04-2025
- Science
- CBS News
Fossil fuel companies caused $28 trillion in climate damage, study finds. These 5 are tied to the most harm.
Extreme heat caused by emissions from 111 fossil fuel companies cost an estimated $28 trillion between 1991 and 2020, according to researchers at Dartmouth College. Their study, which was published Wednesday in "Nature," presents a peer-reviewed method for tying emissions to specific climate harms. Their goal is to help hold companies liable for the cost of extreme weather, similar to holding the tobacco industry liable for lung cancer cases or pharmaceutical companies liable for the opioid crisis. The research firm Zero Carbon Analytics counts 68 lawsuits filed globally about climate change damage, with more than half of them in the United States. "We argue that the scientific case for climate liability is closed," wrote the study's authors, Christopher Callahan, who received his PhD from Dartmouth College, and Justin Mankin, a Dartmouth Department of Geography professor. 5 top emitting companies About a third of the total cost was attributed to five companies, which can be tied to more than $9 trillion in climate damage, according to the study. These are the top-emitting companies and the dollar amount the researchers estimate they are responsible for: Saudi Aramco: $2.05 trillion Gazprom: $2 trillion Chevron: $1.98 trillion ExxonMobil: $1.91 trillion BP: $1.45 trillion The researchers figured that every 1% of greenhouse gas put into the atmosphere since 1990 has caused $502 billion in damage from heat alone, which doesn't include the costs incurred by other extreme weather such as hurricanes, droughts and floods. Emissions data is taken from the public Carbon Majors database, they said. They used 1,000 different computer simulations to translate those emissions into changes for Earth's global average surface temperature by comparing it to a world without that company's emissions. Using this approach, they determined that pollution from Chevron, for example, has raised the Earth's temperature by .045 degrees Fahrenheit. The researchers also calculated how much each company's pollution contributed to the five hottest days of the year using 80 more computer simulations and then applying a formula that connects extreme heat intensity to changes in economic output. This system is modeled on the established techniques scientists have been using for more than a decade to attribute extreme weather events, such as the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave, to climate change. Mankin said that in the past, there was an argument of, "Who's to say that it's my molecule of CO2 that's contributed to these damages versus any other one?" He said the study "really laid clear how the veil of plausible deniability doesn't exist anymore scientifically. We can actually trace harms back to major emitters." Aramco, Gazprom, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and BP did not respond to requests for comment. "All methods they use are quite robust," said Imperial College London climate scientist Friederike Otto, who heads World Weather Attribution, a collection of scientists who try rapid attribution studies to see if specific extreme weather events are worsened by climate change and, if so, by how much. She didn't take part in the study. "It would be good in my view if this approach would be taken up more by different groups. As with event attribution, the more groups do it, the better the science gets and the better we know what makes a difference and what does not," Otto said. So far, no climate liability lawsuit against a major carbon emitter has been successful, but maybe showing "how overwhelmingly strong the scientific evidence" is can change that, she said. The research is a good exercise and proof of concept, but there are so many other climate variables that the numbers that Callahan and Mankin came up with are probably a vast underestimate of the damage the companies have really caused, said Michael Mann, a University of Pennsylvania climate scientist who wasn't involved in the study.
