Multinationals have shirked their responsibility in global warming for too long
At least 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions since 1988, according to the findings of a 2017 Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) report. Corporations with major financial power in the global landscape are not being held accountable for their contribution to global warming and climate change.
Earlier this month, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg led a group of young climate activists from across the world, in an address at the United Nations Climate Action Summit. She address was biting and honest, an attempt to make world leaders make the necessary changes in their state legislation in order to fight against climate change:
“You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction. And all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”
One of the most notable actions by states to fight global warming is the formation of the Paris Agreement, created within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The signatories on the agreement commit to keeping a global temperature rise this century well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. They resolve to work towards limiting the temperature increase even further to one and a half degrees Celsius.
Despite the fact that this Agreement was signed by almost 200 countries worldwide, carbon emissions are rising. In order to limit warming to just 2 degrees Celsius, as the Agreement reads, the effectiveness of global climate policies need to triple in scale. This is according to a UN report released this year. These findings suggest that state leaders alone cannot fight this fight.
We need commitment from large multinational corporations themselves.
Multinationals like Gazprom and ExxonMobil wield phenomenal power. They oversee huge supply chains, sell products all over the world, and help mould international politics to their interests. And as they generate profits through their daily transactions, they are also releasing carbon emissions. Last year ExxonMobil, the largest investor-owned oil company globally, said that it would spend $1 million over two years to lobby for a carbon tax in the United States.
At face-value this commitment seems to show that the corporation is attempting to join the fight against climate change, however, the pledge comes with a catch. In exchange for lobbying for the tax, the company wants immunity from all climate lawsuits in the future. This is just one example where a multinational uses its financial power to shirk responsibility. According to The Economist the oil giant plans to pump 25% more oil and gas in 2025 than in 2017.
The proposal for the carbon tax brought by ExxonMobil also shows the interplay which exists between interplay between state and corporate power. This interplay plays a defining role in international relations and for this reason the actions taken by big corporations with deep pockets cannot be overlooked.
Thunberg mentioned the world leaders’ fascination with economic growth in her address indicating that this factor is at the forefront in most policy and decision making discussions. For this very reason corporation executives need to be a focal point in the conversations on climate change – they need to be called out directly. Multinationals should equally not be celebrated for vowing to diminish emissions or carrying out any climate-related campaign because it is their ethical and moral responsibility.
However, as long as there is a demand these corporations will remain in business and be protected. As much as government legislation and commitments inspire some hope in the strengthening of the fight against global warming, it is up to the private sphere to take the leading role.
We as consumers need to put pressure on powerful companies to effect change. Spend your resources consciously – don’t buy products unnecessarily and speak to your network about how they are contributing to climate change. The likes of Thunberg need to speak directly to company executives and they need to take responsibility for the reality they have created.
Umami politics 