Carbon Majors: 2023 Data Update

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Carbon Majors

Carbon Majors was first released in 2013² by Richard Heede of the Climate Accountability Institute (CAI) to trace emissions from fossil fuel and cement production back to the companies responsible. In 2024, InfluenceMap, in collaboration with CAI, updated and launched the database on a new website, carbonmajors.org. This platform ensures regular updates and increased accessibility for users.

Carbon Majors was developed to focus on the accountability of hydrocarbon producers, specifically corporations that consistently generate substantial profits from the extraction and manufacturing of products known to be the major contributors to climate change. Unlike national-level emissions databases, it is the first and only global database that aggregates emissions data by company, providing a crucial link between corporate actions and climate change-related harms. This approach has been essential for identifying and establishing the responsibility of a small group of companies whose emissions have significantly contributed to global warming.

Since 2013, Carbon Majors has been widely utilized in climate litigation and legislation, serving as a critical tool for emissions attribution. Additionally, it has found applications in academic research, as well as in regulatory and financial contexts. For instance, since the release of the Carbon Majors Database: Launch Report in April 2024, notable use cases include:

• New York and Vermont have passed Climate Superfund laws requiring fossil fuel companies responsible for significant emissions to pay into state funds for climate damage repair and adaptation. The database is a proposed tool to quantify these companies’ emissions.
• Quilcaille et al. found climate change significantly increased heatwave intensity and likelihood, with 33% of historical heatwaves being virtually impossible without anthropogenic influence. The study also quantifies the role of the Carbon Majors entities in intensifying these heatwaves, showing that emissions from these producers made up to 62 heatwaves reported between 2000 and 2022 up to 10,000 times more likely.
• A 2024 memo by Public Citizen and Fair and Just Prosecution outlines how fossil fuel companies and their CEOs could face criminal charges under New York’s reckless endangerment laws for knowingly contributing to climate disasters while misleading the public about the risks. The database serves as a key resource to support evidence of reckless conduct by major fossil fuel producers.
• ClientEarth filed a complaint against BlackRock with the French financial regulator, for misleading investors about ‘sustainable’ funds while investing in fossil fuel companies, including ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP. The database is cited to highlight these companies’ significant contribution to global emissions.

Background

In its 2023 AR6 Synthesis Report, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that global surface temperatures have already reached 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels (1850–1900) from 2011–2020, underscoring the urgency of immediate and deep emissions reductions. Meanwhile, the UN Emissions Gap Report 2024 reveals that despite existing climate agreements, global greenhouse gas emissions reached a record high of 57.1 GtCO₂e in 2023, a 1.3% increase from the 2022. This growth exceeds the average annual increase observed between 2010–2019 of 0.8%. Unless emissions in 2030 fall below levels inferred by current policies and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the chance of achieving the 1.5°C target will vanish, and the difficulty of limiting warming to 2°C (>66% chance) will increase dramatically. The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Net Zero by 2050 report emphasizes the need for a dramatic and immediate decline in coal, oil, and gas consumption, yet the fossil fuel industry continues to expand. In 2023, global CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels reached a record high of 37.8 GtCO₂, up 1.3% from 2022¹.

Carbon Majors traces greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and cement produced by companies from as early as 1854 to the present. This section provides a brief overview of the database’s methodology. For a detailed more explanation, see the Methodology Page or refer to Rick Heede’s 2014 paper, Carbon Majors: Methods & Results Report³.

Carbon Majors selects the largest oil, gas, coal, and cement producers based on their production. These entities are categorized as either investor-owned, state-owned, or nation-state producers. Nation-state producers are used primarily in the coal sector and are included only when investor-owned or state-owned companies haven’t been established or played a minor role in the relevant country.

Production data is obtained for each entity and is primarily based on self-reported figures, with third-party sources used when necessary. This data is standardized to common commodity types, each with a standard unit: Oil & Natural Gas Liquids (million barrels), Natural Gas (billion cubic feet), and Coal (million tonnes). To improve data accuracy, coal production is further categorized by rank, such as bituminous or anthracite, or by utilization, such as thermal or metallurgical.

Emission factors for each fuel type are used to estimate the carbon content released when these fossil fuels are combusted. Applying this factor to the standardized production results in the emissions from the combustion of marketed products, comprising nearly 90% of total emissions tracked by the database. These are Scope 3 Category 11 emissions, corresponding to "use of sold products". Four direct, operational Scope 1 emissions are then estimated: the flaring and venting of CO₂ at oil and gas facilities, fugitive methane from coal, oil, and gas operations, and CO₂ from a producer’s own fuel use (mainly gas production). Both Scope 1 and Scope 3 emissions are then aggregated to determine the total emissions for a company in a given year and historically. Estimation of CO₂ emissions for cement production differs from that for fossil fuel production. Cement emissions are calculated based on process emissions from limestone calcining and exclude fuel and electricity inputs already accounted for by fossil fuel producers.

This research compares the emissions tracked by the Carbon Majors database to total fossil fuel and cement emissions since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Data from the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC), and more recently the Global Carbon Project, provides this total, amounting to 1,812 GtCO₂ from 1750 to 2023. The CO₂ emissions figures obtained from the above calculations (excluding fugitive methane CO₂ equivalent emissions) are compared to this total to calculate entities' relative contributions to total fossil fuel and cement emissions.

This section presents analysis of the Carbon Majors database, beginning with a historical overview of the data and then examining emissions in 2023. The 2023 analysis highlights the top 20 entities by emissions, and examines emissions by entity type, fuel type, and region. In previous versions of the database, coal emissions in China, the Russian Federation, the Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan were aggregated at the national level. The 2023 update disaggregates these emissions, attributing them to individual companies instead of nations. The last section explores this newly added data.

The following figure shows the annual CO₂ emissions traced to the carbon fuels and cement produced by the Carbon Majors entities from the beginning of the data records in 1854 to 2023 and compares these to global fossil fuel and cement CO₂ emissions.

Historical Emissions

Carbon Majors traces 1,388 GtCO₂e of cumulative historical emissions from 1854 through 2023 to 180 industrial producers, the CO₂ portion of which is equivalent to 67.5% of global fossil fuel and cement CO₂ emissions since 1750. Over a third (33.7%) of these global CO₂ emissions historically can be attributed to just 26 companies.

The table below shows the top 20 highest carbon producing entities in the database, which collectively account for 845 GtCO₂e, representing 41.0% of global historical fossil fuel and cement CO₂ emissions since 1824. In the 2023 update, China dropped to second place, Poland to thirteenth place and the Russian Federation was removed due to the disaggregation of their coal production data (see the Nation State Coal Disaggregation section for more information). These emissions are now attributed to individual companies. Changes to the top 20 include:

• The Russian Federation’s coal production dropped out of the rankings, while China’s fell to second place and Poland’s to thirteenth. This shift occurred because post-2004 and post-2001 production data for China and Poland, respectively, as well as Russia’s coal production since the fall of the Soviet Union, were disaggregated and attributed to individual companies.
• CHN Energy, one of the Chinese coal companies that emerged from this disaggregation, entered the rankings at number fourteen.
• The former Soviet Union moved up one place to first. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and China’s cement production each climbed two spots, while Pemex rose one place in the rankings.
• TotalEnergies and Peabody Energy each dropped one place in the rankings.

The top 20 includes 16 companies and 4 nation-states: the coal production of the Former Soviet Union, China, and Poland, as well as China’s cement production. Among the companies, 9 are state-owned and 7 are investor-owned, with the United States (4 companies), the United Kingdom (3 companies), and China (2 companies) having the largest representation.

Emissions in 2023

In 2023, Carbon Majors traced emissions totalling 33.9 GtCO₂e to the 169 active entities within the database, an increase of 0.7% compared to 2022 (0.2 GtCO₂e). The CO₂ emissions tracked by the database in 2023 are equivalent to 78.4% of global fossil fuel and cement CO₂ emissions in that year. One half (50.0%) of fossil fuel and cement CO₂ emissions in 2023 can be traced to just 36 state- and investor-owned companies.

The table below highlights the top 20 highest carbon producing entities in the database in 2023. Collectively, these entities were linked to 17.5 GtCO₂e in emissions, with their CO₂ emissions accounting for 40.8% of all global fossil fuel and cement CO₂ emissions in 2023. The list is predominantly composed of state-owned entities, which make up 80% of the top 20. Notably, Chinese entities represent 40% of the list, and the CO₂ emissions from these 8 companies constitute 17.3% of the total fossil fuel and cement CO₂ emissions for the year. Coal companies feature prominently, with seven on the list, six from China and one from India, highlighting the continued reliance on coal in Asia.

Emissions by Entity Type in 2023

Emissions from the assessed entities are traced to three entity types: investor-owned companies, state-owned companies, and nation-state producers. Nation-state producers are used primarily in the coal sector and are included only when investor-owned or state-owned companies are either not established, play a minor role in the country, or lack available historical production data.

Prior to the 2023 Carbon Majors data update, emissions data for coal production in China, the Russian Federation, the Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan were aggregated at the national level in the database. However, the 2023 update disaggregates these emissions, attributing them to individual companies, the largest of which are state-owned. This has contributed to state-owned entities becoming the largest entity type in the database in 2023, with 22.5 GtCO₂e attributed to 68 companies, equivalent to 52% of global fossil fuel and cement CO₂ emissions in 2023. In comparison, 99 investor-owned companies accounted for 10.2 GtCO₂e (23% of global fossil fuel and cement CO₂ emissions) and 2 nation states were linked to 1.1 GtCO₂e (3% of global fossil fuel and cement CO₂ emissions).

The top 5 investor-owned companies, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, TotalEnergies, and BP are responsible for a significant portion of global emissions, with a total of 2.2 GtCO₂e (4.9% of global fossil CO₂ emissions). However, this is still considerably lower than the 7.4 GtCO₂e (17.4% of global fossil CO₂ emissions) linked to the 5 largest state-owned entities in 2023: Saudi Aramco, Coal India, CHN Energy, National Iranian Oil Co., and Jinneng Group. The new additions of CHN Energy and Jinneng Group, along with Coal India, highlights the influence of state-owned coal companies, particularly in Asia.

The analysis also found that most entities are linked to increased emissions in 2023 compared to 2022. Overall, 93 entities increased their emissions, while 73 reduced them and 3 maintained the same level of emissions. State-owned entities expanded the most, with 42 of the 68 (62%) companies in the database increasing emissions, resulting in an additional 391 MtCO₂e being produced in 2023 compared to 2022. Just over half of investor-owned companies increased emissions, with 50 of the 99 (51%) companies linked to increased emissions. However, despite this, investor-owned companies as a group produced 139 MtCO₂e less in 2023 than in 2022.

Emissions by Fuel Type in 2023

Carbon Majors tracks emissions from the production of four different commodity types: oil & natural gas liquids (oil & NGL), natural gas, coal, and cement.

As the table below shows, coal, the largest contributor to overall emissions in the database in 2023, grew by 1.9% (258 MtCO₂e), reinforcing its dominant role in total emissions. Cement experienced the largest relative increase in emissions at 6.5% (an 82 MtCO₂e rise), reflecting expanding production. In contrast, natural gas saw a decline of 2.0% (164 MtCO₂e), while oil remained relatively stable, with a slight increase of 0.7% (73 MtCO₂e).

As shown in the graph below, coal has held the largest share of emissions since 2008. Prior to that, from the mid-1980s until 2008, coal and oil have alternated as the dominant source. The mid-1960s and 1970s were dominated by oil, before which coal consistently held the largest share. Natural gas has been steadily increasing its share in total emissions since the 1940s, while cement's share has been growing since the 1980s.

Since 2005, coal's percentage share of emissions has been steadily rising, reaching 41% in 2023, its highest level since 2013, when it peaked at 42%. In contrast, the share of oil and NGLs has been on a slow decline since the mid 2000s, dropping from 41% in 2005 to 32% in 2023. Cement and natural gas have remained relatively consistent in the last 20 years, with cement’s share staying below 5% and natural gas fluctuating between 21% and 24%.

Company Emissions by Region in 2023

This section analyzes the emissions of both investor-owned and state-owned companies by region, categorizing these entities based on the location of their headquarters: Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and South America.

Between 2022 and 2023, emissions from coal and natural gas companies in Africa decreased, while emissions from oil companies increased. In Australia, emissions across all commodity types decreased. Similarly, in Europe, company emissions reduced from all produced commodities other than cement. In contrast, emissions rose across all produced commodities from companies in Asia, reflecting continued growth in production. In North America, emissions from coal companies dropped, while emissions from cement companies as well as oil and natural gas companies continued to rise, suggesting a shift in fossil fuel usage patterns. In the Middle East, emissions from natural gas companies rose, while those from oil companies.

Nation State Coal Disaggregation

Carbon Majors includes nation-state producers primarily in the coal sector when investor-owned or state-owned companies are either not established, play a minor role in the country, or lack available historical production data. Until the 2022 update, coal production data in Carbon Majors from China, the Russian Federation, the Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan was aggregated at the national level. However, the 2023 update disaggregates coal production from these nations, attributing emissions to individual companies. This section analyses the emissions associated with this newly detailed production data, with a focus on China and Russia, two of the most significant coal-producing countries.

Chinese coal

The inclusion of Chinese coal companies in Carbon Majors represents a significant development compared to previous iterations of the database. Previously, emissions from these companies were aggregated at the national level, limiting insight into company-specific contributions. This was due to the unavailability of historical production data and challenges in verifying the ownership structures of these entities. However, thanks to work analysing and translating Chinese coal industry reports, this data gap has been addressed. The database now includes data on 28 companies, spanning production from 2005 to 2023, providing a source for emissions from Chinese coal production at the company level.

This addition is particularly important given China's dominant role in global coal production. In 2023, China produced 4.36 billion tonnes of coal, accounting for approximately 50% of global coal output⁴. The companies included in the database represent over 77% of China’s coal production in 2023, offering a comprehensive view of the largest Chinese coal companies’ emissions. Moreover, these companies constitute 71% of total Chinese coal emissions over the 2005–2023 period, underscoring their importance in historical emissions.

Twenty-four of the Chinese coal companies in the database are state-owned, compared to four investor-owned.

Russian coal

Similarly to China, emissions from Russian coal companies were aggregated at the national level, starting with the foundation of the Russian Federation in 1992. Like China, this was due to challenges in obtaining reliable production data during the initial post-Soviet period, as state-owned assets were privatized and reorganized. Again, this data gap has been addressed through the discovery and analysis of Russian coal data from various industry and company reports. In the 2023 update, 14 Russian coal companies have been added to the database, with the earliest company-specific data from three companies dating back to 1998.

Russia is the fifth-largest national coal producer in the world, producing 480 million tonnes of coal in 2023, accounting for approximately 6% of global coal production⁵. In 2023, the companies included in the database represent over 64% of Russia’s total coal production, and since the establishment of the Russian Federation in 1992, these companies have accounted for over 57% of the nation’s total coal production.

Coal Disaggregation in Other Nations

In addition to China and Russia, the 2023 Carbon Majors data update disaggregates coal production data for the Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. While these nations contribute less to global coal production than China and Russia, their inclusion provides valuable insights into regional company emissions. In Poland, five companies included in the database represent 75% of the nation’s coal production since 2002. In the Czech Republic, the four new companies in the database account for 45% of its coal production, while in Ukraine and Kazakhstan, the three new companies in each country represent 72% and 66% of their respective coal production, covering the period since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Policy Engagement

Many of the companies tracked by Carbon Majors are among the most oppositional companies to climate regulation globally, as shown by InfluenceMap’s LobbyMap database. The LobbyMap database scores and ranks over 500 companies and 250 industry associations on their activities influencing climate change policy using an A+ to F scale.

Investor-owned Companies

As shown in the table below, LobbyMap assesses 9 of the 10 highest-emission investor-owned Carbon Majors companies. Of these 9 companies, 5 score a D or below, indicating unsupportive positions on climate policy. The remaining 4 score only slightly higher at C-. All 9 assessed companies have an engagement intensity score above 18%, indicating active engagement with climate policy. Additionally, 8 out of 9 have intensity scores above 31%, indicating highly active or strategic engagement. For example, Chevron scores an D- with an engagement intensity of 44%, and ExxonMobil scores a D with an engagement intensity of 50%, indicating that both companies are highly engaged with and hold unsupportive or oppositional positions on climate-related policy.

State-owned Companies

State-owned companies are even more oppositional to climate regulation globally according to LobbyMap research. LobbyMap assesses 7 of the 10 highest emissions state-owned Carbon Majors companies. Similarly to investor-owned companies, none scores higher than a C-, while 5 receive scores lower or equal to a D, where D to F indicates increasingly obstructive climate policy engagement.

State-owned companies are also not as transparently engaged as investor-owned companies. The 6 assessed state-owned companies average a 15% engagement intensity compared to 45% for investor-owned companies. Saudi Aramco's D- score with an engagement intensity of 13% is representative of these companies, indicating oppositional positions on climate policy with active engagement.

This analysis of emissions linked to the world's largest carbon-producing entities provides important insights into the responsibility for industrial CO₂ emissions. The historical overview, spanning from 1750 to 2023, reveals that 67% of global fossil fuel and cement emissions can be traced to 181 entities, with over one-third of these emissions attributed to just 26 producers.

In 2023, the database traced 33.7 GtCO₂e of emissions to the 169 active entities, marking a 0.7% increase from 2022. Notably, just 36 companies were linked to over half of global fossil fuel and cement CO₂ emissions that year. The top 20 highest carbon-producing entities in 2023 are dominated by state-owned enterprises, with 16 of the 20 being state-owned. This list also underscores the significant role of Chinese entities, with the eight entities on the list responsible for 17.3% of global emissions in 2023. Coal companies also feature prominently, with seven on the list, six from China and one from India, highlighting Asia's continued reliance on coal.

A significant update in this year’s analysis is the disaggregation of coal emissions previously aggregated at the national level for China, the Russian Federation, the Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. Attributing these emissions to individual companies, many of which are state-owned, further emphasizes the dominant role of state-owned enterprises. In fact, state-owned entities have emerged as the largest emitters by type in 2023, with 67 state-owned entities linked to 22.3 GtCO₂e, more than double the 10.2 GtCO₂e attributed to 99 investor-owned entities.

Coal remained the largest contributor to emissions in 2023, with its share of total emissions increasing, while cement emissions saw the largest relative rise. In contrast, natural gas emissions declined slightly, and oil emissions remained stable. Regionally, Africa and Europe made some progress in emissions reductions, with most companies in these regions decreasing emissions and overall emissions dropping across all fuels. All other regions saw total emissions increase from 2022, with the majority of companies in those regions, except the Middle East, linked to higher emissions.

In summary, Carbon Majors provides a comprehensive view of the historical and ongoing role of major producers in global emissions. It provides strong evidence for attributing responsibility for climate impacts to a small group of entities, who are often actively engaged with climate policy while simultaneously holding unsupportive or oppositional positions on those policies. By doing so, Carbon Majors underscores the urgent need for targeted accountability and systemic changes in industrial production and policy to align with global climate goals.

The emissions column in the table below includes four direct production-linked operational emission types (comprising part of Scope 1 emissions) and emissions from the combustion of marketed products (categorized as Scope 3 Category 11: Use of Sold Products). One of the four direct emission types is fugitive methane (see the Methodology Page for more information), given in CO₂ equivalent units. In the final column, Percentage of global CO₂ emissions, the value for fugitive methane is not considered when comparing an entity's total CO₂ emissions to total fossil fuel and cement CO₂ emissions.

The emissions column in the table below includes four direct production-linked operational emission types (comprising part of Scope 1 emissions) and emissions from the combustion of marketed products (categorized as Scope 3 Category 11: Use of Sold Products). One of the four direct emission types is fugitive methane (see the Methodology Page for more information), given in CO₂ equivalent units. In the final column, Percentage of global CO₂ emissions, the value for fugitive methane is not considered when comparing an entity's total CO₂ emissions to total fossil fuel and cement CO₂ emissions.