Men fish in a small lake located in front of a coal-burning power station located on the outskirts of Beijing September 23, 2009. Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday promised to put a “notable” brake on the country’s rapidly rising carbon emissions, but dashed hopes he would unveil a hard target to kickstart stalled climate talks.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

China aims to reduce carbon dioxide emission by about 130 million metric tons in key areas in 2024 and 2025, according to its 2024-2025 carbon reduction action plan released by the government on Wednesday.

It also aims to reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by about 2.5% and 3.9% respectively in 2024.

Saudi Aramco, Coal India and Gazprom did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
| Photo Credit: AP

“The vast majority of planet-warming carbondioxide emissions since 2016 can be traced to a group of just 57 fossil fuels and cement producers,” researchers said on April 4.

“From 2016 to 2022, the 57 entities including nation-states, state-owned firms and investor-owned companies produced 80% of the world’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and cement production,” said the Carbon Majors report by non-profit think tank InfluenceMap.

“The world’s top three CO2-emitting companies in the period were state-owned oil firm Saudi Aramco, Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom and state-owned producer Coal India,” the report said.

Saudi Aramco, Coal India and Gazprom did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The report found most companies had expanded their fossil fuel production since 2015, the year when nearly all countries signed the U.N. Paris Agreement, committing to take action to curb climate change.

Since then, while many governments and companies have set tougher emissions targets and rapidly expanded renewable energy, they have also produced and burned more fossil fuels, causing emissions to rise.

“Global energy-related CO2 emissions hit a record high last year,” the International Energy Agency has said.

InfluenceMap said its findings showed that a relatively small group of emitters were responsible for the bulk of ongoing CO2 emissions, and it aimed to increase transparency around which governments and companies were causing climate change.

“It can be used in a variety of cases, ranging from legal processes seeking to hold these producers to account for climate damages, or it can be used by academics in quantifying their contributions, or by campaign groups, or even by investors,” InfluenceMap Programme Manager Daan Van Acker said of the report.

A previous edition of the Carbon Majors database was cited last month in a legal case brought by a Belgian farmer against French oil and gas company TotalEnergies. The farmer argued that as one of the world’s top 20 CO2-emitting companies, TotalEnergies was partly responsible for damage to his operations from extreme weather.

The database was first launched in 2013 by the non-profit research organisation Climate Accountability Institute. It combines companies’ self-reported data on coal, oil and gas production with sources like the U.S. Energy Information Administration, national mining associations and other industry data.

Carroll Muffett, CEO of the non-profit Center for International Environmental Law said the database would improve investors’ and litigators’ ability to track companies’ actions over time.

Representational image of cargo ships at a harbour. Carbon tax on shipping will cut developing countries’ GDP by 0.13%
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The European Union, Canada, Japan and climate-vulnerable Pacific Island states are among 47 countries rallying support for a charge on the international shipping sector’s greenhouse gas emissions, documents reviewed by Reuters showed.

The documents, being discussed at an International Maritime Organization (IMO) meeting now entering a second week, outline four proposals with a combined 47 backers for imposing a fee on each tonne of greenhouse gas the industry produces.

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Support for the idea has more than doubled from the 20 nations that publicly supported a carbon levy at a French climate finance summit last year.

Backers argue the policy could raise more than $80 billion a year in funding which could be reinvested to develop low-carbon shipping fuels and support poorer countries to transition. Opponents, including China and Brazil, say it would penalise trade-reliant emerging economies.

Those countries are competing to win over the dozens of others—including most African nations—that diplomats say have yet to take a firm stance on the issue. The IMO takes decisions by consensus, but can also do so by majority support.

The U.N. agency last year agreed to target a 20% emissions cut by 2030, and net zero emissions around 2050. While countries agreed in talks last week to continue negotiations on the emissions price, an official meeting summary noted they were “split on several issues” regarding the idea.

Albon Ishoda, IMO delegate for the low-lying Marshall Islands, said a levy was the only credible route to meet the IMO’s goals.

“If this does not get passed, what are the alternatives? Because we’ve already agreed to certain targets,” he said. “Are we going back to the drawing board?”

Shipping, which transports around 90% of world trade, accounts for nearly 3% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions—a share expected to expand in the coming decades without tougher anti-pollution measures.

A proposal tabled by the Marshall Islands, Vanuatu and others—which despite their high reliance on shipping have demanded an emissions levy for years—proposes a charge of $150 per tonne of CO2.

Researchers have said a $150 carbon price could make investments in low-carbon ammonia-fuelled systems economic compared with conventional ships.

Disagreement

China, Brazil and Argentina pushed back on the idea of a CO2 levy in IMO talks last year. A study by Brazil’s University of Sao Paulo found a carbon tax on shipping would cut GDP across developing countries by 0.13%, with Africa and South America among the hardest-hit regions.

A Brazilian negotiator said Brazil and other developing countries were seeking a swift energy transition with the least disruptive effects on their economies, especially for countries that rely on sea-borne trade.

A proposal by Argentina, Brazil, China, and others advocates a global fuel emissions intensity limit, with a financial penalty for breaches, as an alternative. That would mean if countries fully complied with the fuel standard, no emissions would face the fee.

“We will not be in favour of a flat levy likely to hurt developing countries, but we would be in favour of a good levy only applied to the emissions over a certain benchmark,” the Brazilian negotiator said.

Despite differences of opinion, member states are still attempting to agree on global measures to avoid more countries targeting the industry on a national level.

That would fragment the market with varying local standards, and cause a headache for companies shipping goods globally.