Russia’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom is the world’s third-largest producer of carbon emissions, The Guardian reported Wednesday, citing a new scientific analysis.
The analysis from the U.S.-based Climate Accountability Institute ranked the top 20 carbon-emitting companies worldwide to examine their role in the current climate crisis. Since 1965, these 20 companies have contributed to 35% of all energy-related carbon dioxide and methane emissions, the analysis said.
Only Saudi Arabia’s state-run Aramco and the U.S.-based Chevron have produced more carbon emissions than Gazprom, according to the report.
The 12 state-owned companies on the list, including Gazprom, are responsible for 20% of all emissions since 1965, which the study says is the year that industry leaders and politicians became aware of the effects these emissions would have on the planet.
Collectively, the companies were described as “substantially responsible for the climate emergency” for having “delayed national and global action for decades.”
Yelena Burmistrova, Gazprom’s deputy chairman, told Interfax earlier this month that dramatically reducing carbon emissions could have “dangerous consequences.”
While Burmistrova highlighted the importance of “environmental responsibility,” she argued that reducing carbon emissions to zero too quickly would “lead to the collapse of the world economy and the loss of hundreds of millions of jobs.”
Russia is the fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases globally. On Sept. 23, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev approved a resolution that paves the way to Russia ratifying the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
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