The next few years are key for ensuring that the world does not face the complete irreversible consequences of climate change. As a result, individuals are collectively scrambling to implement changes in their daily habits to help the environment. Yet, as people are taking responsibility by recycling, taking shorter showers, looking for eco-friendly products, and more, wealthy nations and corporations are doing much less than what they proportionally should to support such efforts. The fault for global warming lies greatly on corporations and the wealthy nations in which they are based.
Insufficient regulation and action from governments and corporations have gone well under the public radar for quite a while. But there is no time left; this has to change. In 2022, global temperatures were already 1.1ºC to 1.3ºC higher than temperatures in the late 1800s. According to Bill McGuire at Scientists for Global Responsibility, 1.5ºC is the estimated threshold for the permanent loss of Greenland and the West Antarctic Ice Sheets, while 2ºC is the threshold for the permanent dieback of the Amazon rainforest and deterioration of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. It’s expected that the temperature rises by 1.5ºC between 2026 and 2042, and by 2ºC before 2050.
Corporations are currently doing too little to curb their emissions. While companies often pledge to lower their carbon emissions, they fail to take into account the emissions caused by their products’ creation process and use, which can be categorized into either upstream or downstream emissions respectively. Additionally, in 2017, CDP and the Climate Accountability Institute reported that just 100 fossil-fuel producers are responsible for 71% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions “since 1988, the year in which human-induced climate change was officially recognized through the establishment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).”
Among the most frustrating facts behind corporate irresponsibility towards climate change is that scientists noticed the atmospheric ozone layer thinning in the 1980s. It has been four decades since, and in that time, there has been little to no effective top-down implementation of climate policy.
Governments demonstrate similar behavior to that of corporations when it comes to climate change – at least the wealthiest ones. Four out of five of the world’s biggest economies also rank in the world’s top five CO2-emitting countries: The U.S. ranks first in GDP and second in tons of CO2 emissions, China is the inverse as it ranks first in CO2 emissions and second in GDP, then Japan ranks third in GDP and fifth in CO2 emissions, while India ranks fifth in GDP and third in emissions. In addition to this, each of these countries is highly influential in shaping international policy and politics. The richest countries in the world have had over 40 years to change the outcomes climate change will have on humanity, but have instead augmented the progression of global warming through their lack of concern for emissions.
Mineral products (the petroleum industry), machines, chemical products, and transportation are the main exports of the world’s richest economies, and have high upstream and downstream emissions. For example, in the petroleum industry, oil extraction in itself is environmentally harmful, however refining the oil later is what causes the most harm. The U.S. is the largest exporter of refined petroleum in the world, but it purchases most of its crude oil from abroad. Other countries are left to rely on exporting raw materials, such as crude oil, for economic growth and stability, while wealthier countries exploit this in order to make a variety of products. For example, Colombia’s largest export is crude petroleum, with the U.S. importing about a fourth of this crude oil. The U.S. then refines the oil, and in turn just about 85% of the refined petroleum that Colombia later imports comes from the U.S. The situation is similar for a majority of Latin American countries.
In the meantime, the world’s lowest income countries are suffering the worst effects of climate change and will be hit the hardest by an extended climate crisis. According to the World Economic Forum, “only one-tenth of the world’s greenhouse gasses are emitted by the 74 lowest-income countries, but they will be most affected by the consequences of climate change.” If global warming remains on the back burner for policy makers, it could lead to hundreds of millions of climate refugees.
Climate change already has irreversible consequences, but the hope is to keep the rise in temperatures below the 1.5ºC threshold to reduce losses. The climate crisis does not just affect the planet and the balance of its ecosystems, but also human life. While individual efforts should not be disconsidered, it is important to hold governments and corporations accountable. It is time to place responsibility on those at fault, and to look after those in need. Frankly, it cannot wait. The matter at hand is urgent and corporations need to feel that pressure.
Featured image showing the ozone layer hole as of 2018 by NASA Earth Observatory.
