90 companies - 11 of which are from the Middle East and North Africa - are fueling the world’s climate crisis, according to new peer-reviewed research set to be published in a major climate science journal. The research, known as Carbon Majors, found that this relatively small number of companies – including Saudi Aramco, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) – have produced about two-thirds of all global industrial carbon dioxide and methane emissions since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.
The report is one of the strongest pieces of research yet to put the burden of responsibility for climate change on specific companies. While impacting the planet dearly, most of the 90 companies making major contributions to the climate crisis are actually receiving about two trillion dollars in government subsidies to do so. All but seven of the 90 entities identified in this report are in the dirty fossil fuel industry, which the International Monetary Fund estimates receives about $1.9 trillion dollars in global subsidies.
Traditionally, climate negotiators from the region cite that MENA countries collectively contribute less than 5% of the total world emissions of GHGs (IEA 2007). This statistic has been used as a basis of negotiation in the past, and in addition to the emphasis that these countries hold no historic responsibilities for climate change, it means that MENA countries have not felt the need to take progressive positions in order to move forwards a potential global climate deal in 2015.
Whilst 5% of emissions for the entire Middle East and North Africa may seem negligable, this figure only takes into account territorial emissions, and not export / import figures. The MENA region has about 57% of the world’s proven oil reserves and 41% of proven natural gas resources, and the energy strategy of many countries is to transition to renewable energy within their local territories, and still continue to exploit fossil fuel reserves by selling them globally:
‘We want to produce more clean energy to save burning natural gas in power plants, which we can sell at higher prices globally’. - Mohammed al-Sada, Qatar’s Minister of Energy.
The MENA companies by % of Global Manmade Carbon Emissions are:
The majority of these MENA “companies” listed are in fact state owned, so this data is even more interesting when compared to the national territorial emissions of each related country:
In almost every case, the emissions of MENA state owned companies are higher than the national emissions. This starts to put more emphasis on the responsibility of MENA countries to take action towards climate change, on a local and international level.
The IPCC advocates the substantial and sustained reduction of CO2, and proposes an ‘emissions budget’ or a limit of the total amount of greenhouse gases (270 PgC) that humanity can emit for the remainder of this century to limit warming to 2°C. Currently, the fossil fuel industry has roughly 2795 gigatons of CO2 in their reserves. To keep emissions under that threshold, fossil fuel nations would need to commit to policies to keep nearly 80% of those fossil fuel reserves underground.
MENA countries are trying to push back on potential losses, and during this round of climate negotiations, Saudi Arabia wanted to introduce the issue of “Response Measures” into the 2015 agreement. Response Measures is the about how countries like Saudi Arabia would be compensated for any loss in oil sales if the world decides to reduce the use of fossils fuels to solve climate change.
But even for the very sustainability and survival of these few companies in the MENA who are in part responsible for global climate change - every government, every organization, every individual must decide to solve climate change, as their sustainability and survival also depends on it.
For more more information on Climate Change Impacts in the MENA region, read the Adopt a Negotiator Series:
North Africa: http://adoptanegotiator.org/2013/11/21/climate-change-impacts-in-mena-north-africa/
Levant: http://adoptanegotiator.org/2013/11/21/climate-change-impacts-in-mena-levant/
The Gulf http://adoptanegotiator.org/2013/11/19/climate-change-impacts-in-mena-gulf/
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About the author
Co-Founder 3BL Associates, Biomimicry specialist, Arab Youth Climate Movement National Co- ordinator, HBF Arab World Policy Specialist.
