Climate Change & Industry
100 fossil fuel producers and nearly 1 trillion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions
In 1988, the IPCC was established and, as such, the effects of human activities on the climate were officially recognized. Despite this landmark, the fossil fuel industry has expanded prodigiously since 1988 and has become more carbon-intensive.
According to Carbon Disclosure Project, only a 100 companies are to blame for 71% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
The highest emitting companies since 1988 that are investor-owned include: ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron, Peabody, Total, and BHP Billiton. Key state-owned companies include Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, National Iranian Oil, Coal India, Pemex, and CNPC (PetroChina). Coal emissions from China are represented by the state, in which key state-owned producers include Shenhua Group, Datong Coal Mine Group, and China National Coal Group.
Investors in fossil fuel companies carry influence over one fifth of industrial greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
China is the world's biggest polluter and now one of its largest producers of clean energy. Which way will China go in the future, and how will it affect the global environment? Data scientist Angel Hsu describes how the most populous country on earth is creating a future based on alternative energy and facing up to the environmental catastrophe it created as it rapidly industrialized.
Shell
Shell is one of the largest oil companies (9th biggest greenhouse gas emitter) in the world with 94,000 employees and 370 billion euro’s in sales. The company is involved in all aspects of the energy sector: prospecting, oil and natural gas extraction, refining, petrochemicals and sales, all in 70 countries.
This company does not really have a good reputation. And rightly so, our Dutch oil and gas giant Shell has known about the dangers of climate change for over 30 years, yet still continues to work with fossil fuels and does its best to frustrate an effective approach to the climate problems facing the world, as Shell spends 20 million euro’s annually on anti-climate lobbying.
Internal documents show that Shell already knew in 1986 that oil and gas consumption could disrupt the climate. The company warned that "the relatively rapid and dramatic changes in the Earth's climate has consequences for the living environment of people, their future standard of living and food supplies, with potentially major damage and economic and political consequences." Shell went even further in the internal study: "It is possible that the environment will be affected to such an extent that some parts of the earth may become uninhabitable."
For some time Shell claimed that it is working on developing "green initiatives", but the budget the company devotes to climate-friendly technologies and energy sources hasn't increased in the past 20 years. Since 1998, this budget accounts for 1 percent of Shell's total investment, according to De Correspondent's own calculations. Over the same period Shell has invested tens of billions into extracting oil and gas from areas that were previously inaccessible, such as from the Arctic and deep-sea areas.
No wonder why so many climate action groups are against this company. The Dutch organization Milieu Defensie even started a lawsuit against Shell.
Capitalism
Even if these 100 companies are responsible for 71% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, we also have to look at the fault of the system they have become part of, the one that is always in favor of economic growth even when it could damage the environment. This system is called capitalism, which threatened the environment since the peak of industrial revolution in the 1870s.
Matthew Schneider-Mayerson’s explores the 'peak oil' movement in the context of contemporary responses to environmental crises and the rise of libertarian ideals in American political culture. This talk is from 2013 but his information is such an accurate prediction of the time we currently live in.
Main types of industry
In the industry we can find a lot of different sectors like the electronics, the distribution or the military industry. But the biggest ones in terms of emissions are not these.
These industries are a mixture of emissions with gases more or less dangerous for the ozone layer. In the harmful industries we can find:
The food industry
The textile industry
Pharmaceutics
Wood industry
Transport
Plastics
Construction
Every industry has its own emissions and all of them have a harmful effect on our environment.
Do you know where your clothes come from? The apparel industry is one of the biggest violators of both the environment and human rights. In this compelling and information-packed talk, co-founder of Zady Maxine Bédat shows how you can take back the power of your wardrobe, and feel better in (and better about) your clothes.
Main types of emission
In the industry, we can consider 4 main greenhouse effect gases.
Carbon dioxide, represents the biggest share of human emissions and comes essentially from car’s exhaust (13%) and energy production (71%). This makes energy the biggest gas emitter. It’s also the gas that is the target of most environmental campaigns and countries because it is the most emitted gas, even though this gas is less dangerous compared to the other 3 greenhouse gases.
Methane has a greenhouse effect between 25 and 100 times more harmful than CO2. Scientists consider methane from agriculture as the biggest reason for the global warming because of its destructive power.
Nitrous gas is at least 296 times more impact than carbon dioxide and can stay in the atmosphere approximately 150 years. Emissions of this gas come mainly from livestock and animal exploitation.
Fluorinated gases have the most impact , with an average of 10.000 times more impact than one 1 kilo of CO2. These gases come from air conditioning, freezers and all climate control devices in general. They come from the use of aerosol and fire protection as well. They can also come from pesticides and all chemicals used in agriculture.
Air pollution
Air pollution causes up to 8.8 million premature deaths each year around the globe, surpassing worldwide deaths from smoking. A new study, published late last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that about 65 percent of those deaths are caused by emissions from fossil fuel-related activities, and that we can prevent about 3.6 million premature deaths every year if we phase out fossil fuels.
Considering that this is a factor of 3 higher than the mortality rate from other avoidable environmental risks such as unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene, reducing air pollution is clearly an effective and urgent health intervention.
The Industry plays a huge role in contributing to climate change and air pollution. What are the ways we can stop this?
In this talk, Daniel Dubois helps us open our minds on the power of consumerism. Take a moment to discover how you can create the world you want to see. Daniel is a passionate social entrepreneur and changemaker who is currently buildling a world of unlimited access to adventure through ShareShed.
SOLUTIONS TO REDUCE CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH INDUSTRY
“71% of CO2 emissions comes from the industry”. We consider industry as the biggest share in the graph of greenhouse gases emissions. If we want to repair the damages we made to our environment, we must improve the way of producing, and find out solutions to lower our impact. The balance of the entire ecosystem is under a threat because of human activities, and even if we can’t repair all the damages, we still can act in favor of the planet, but we have to act right now.
Create pollution fees for companies/states
Usually, when a company emits pollutants, nobody pays for it, even if pollution comes with a price. Our society needs to understand that pollution is not free, if someone pollutes, somebody will, later, pay for it.
This is the reason why companies must pay when they emit greenhouse gases or other type of pollutants because one day we will have to pay with our health. On the contrary, a company which makes a lot of efforts to become sustainable should receive money for its actions.
Help companies and households to finance installation of renewable energy devices
Most of the time people are in favor of sustainability, except when they have to pay extra for it. Sustainability and all the environmental goals should come with the help of our governments. But before the government helps people to install renewable energy devices, or promotes certain building renovations, they need to do better research. Sometimes the costs of these renewable energies are not in favor at all of the environment. When we look at the people who are building and living off grid, we can learn a lot of their self supporting ecosystem. Governments could learn much more from them in how you can do simple implementations and improvements for low costs. We as a community need to look at these developments more closely and work together on the most efficient implementations.
Ban dangerous substances
The simplest action governments should take, is to ban some dangerous substances for the environment, or dangerous for human health. For instance they can ban GMO’s because it destroys every variety of plant by choosing only one, composed by particularities of some varieties. Most of the time by selectioning only one species of plant, you have an impact on the taste of the product, on the health of your consumers and on the specificities of the plant.
Create a circular economy
The role of the industrial sector is crucial, if not decisive, in the fight against climate change, to achieve the circular economy
The circular economy is an economic system of exchange and production which, at all stages of the product life cycle, aims at increasing the efficiency of resource use and reducing the impact on the environment.
The adoption of the circular economy would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent,
We should encourage the creation of a special fund to stimulate innovation, develop environmentally friendly industries and finance companies wishing to achieve real industrial change, taking into account the protection of the environment.
The whole world must think about the problem, the radical transformation of polluted industries by involving consumers, and act quickly and realistically, without focusing on the financial cost, because the human health, air purity and the balance of nature have no price.
What are the things you implement in order to improve supporting the right industry? Let us know by tagging us with #theconsciouschallenge
» Want to contribute to our Ecological Footprint Bible? Submit us your scientific articles! Mail us at info@theconsciouschallenge.org
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