Climate scientists are alarmed, reported the Guardian earlier this month:
This is the 10th consecutive monthly record in a warming phase that has shattered all previous records. Over the past 12 months, average global temperatures have been 1.58C above pre-industrial levels.
For those looking to apportion blame, the Carbon Majors database was helpfully relaunched a few days before:
The Carbon Majors database traces 1,421 GtCO2e of cumulative historical emissions from 1854 through 2022 to 122 industrial producers, the CO2 portion of which is equivalent to 72% of global fossil fuel and cement CO2 emissions since 1751. Over 70% of these global CO2 emissions historically can be attributed to just 78 corporate and state producing entities.
Cement producer Holcim – parent company of Aggregate Industries – is one of them, 63rd on the list:
What might the legal consequences of this be?
The Carbon Majors dataset has played a pivotal role in holding fossil fuel producers to account for their climate-related impacts in academic, regulatory, and legal contexts. Examples include quantifying the contribution these entities have made to global surface temperature, sea level, and atmospheric CO2 rise; and establishing corporate accountability for climate-related human rights violations.
Indeed, Holcim has already found itself at the sharp end of climate litigation, as previously posted.
Carbon Majors is a historic production database used to quantify emissions from 122 of the biggest fossil fuel and cement producers. The dataset contains emissions data from 1854 through 2022. pic.twitter.com/aMv3aTf0et
— InfluenceMap (@InfluenceMap) April 4, 2024
Fascinating case for legal responsibility by @ECCHRBerlin: cement industry is responsible for ≈8% global annual CO2 emissions, almost 3x aviation industry; Holcim is a Carbon Major whose contribution has been quantified (https://t.co/gO1YYHf69U) Details: https://t.co/QuASMeHiJ0 https://t.co/bcHztqWypk
— Lucy Maxwell (@lucysmaxwell) July 13, 2022
