World's biggest climate villain?

ExxonMobil is the world's biggest oil corporation, drilling and selling millions of barrels of oil every year (in the UK they're called Esso). Climate scientists agree that burning oil, and other fossil fuels like gas and coal, generates a huge amount of carbon dioxide, which is causing global warming and changing our climate.

Friends of the Earth commissioned some experts to work out just how much carbon dioxide has come from ExxonMobil's oil and other products. Our report showed that it's a staggering 20.3 billion tons of carbon - that's 5% of all human emissions over the last 120 years!

Climate change will have a massive impact on our world. By 2050 it could cause the extinction of a quarter of all animal species. It may result in more extreme weather events around the world like floods and droughts, and as the sea rises some islands and low-lying lands may disappear. What might be more worrying to ExxonMobil is that the damage caused by climate change may cost $150 billion every year, and some of the victims might decide to sue the company.

For a long time ExxonMobil has been arguing that we should keep on burning oil, and they're opposing the Kyoto Agreement which is a world treaty to tackle climate change. We think that's why US President George Bush pulled out of the treaty. We're asking ExxonMobil to support the Kyoto agreement, and to invest in renewable energy like solar, wind and wave power, which can provide us with clean energy without changing the climate.

You can put pressure on the company too - ask family and friends not to fill up at an Esso petrol station - visit stopesso for more info.

Discuss "World's biggest climate villain?" in our forum

Main image © Friends of the Earth