Climate change?: Coal India ranks No 1, Adani No 3 in carbon emission worldwide

By Rajiv Shah
In an astonishing revelation, several top Indian companies -- Government of India-owned Coal India, Gujarat's powerful Adani Group, Tata Steel, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Tata Power, and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) -- have found their way into top 100 CO2 emitting coal companies worldwide.
A recent high-profile report by Fossil Free Indexes LLC has, in fact, ranked Coal India, a listed company, as the worst carbon emitter in the world with 57.722 gigatons (Gt) of CO2, ranking it No 1. Following Coal India’s carbon dioxide emission is China Shenhua with 36.807 Gt, ranking No 2, and then comes the turn of Adani Group with 25.383 Gt ranking No 3.
As for others, their CO2 emission is Tata Steel, ranking 31st, with an emission of 2.709 Gt; NTPC, ranking 48th, with an emission of 1.740 Gt; Tata Power, ranking 58th, with an emission of 1,062 Gt; and SAIL, ranking 91st, with an amission of 0.307 Gt of CO2.
The report, titled "The Carbon Underground 200TM", identifies the top 100 public coal companies and as many public oil and gas companies globally, ranking them by the potential carbon emissions content of their reported reserves.
As for oil and gas emission, Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) ranks No 14th worldwide, with a CO2 emission of 2.457 Gt, and Oil India ranks 34th, with an emission of 0.113 Gt.
Pointing towards the danger posed by these 200 listed pubic companies, the report, the report states, "The reserves of these companies total 555 gigatons (Gt) of potential CO2 emissions, almost five times more than can be burned for the world to have an 80% chance of limiting global temperature rise to 2°C (3.6° F)."
The report adds, the CO2 emissions potential of the coal, oil and gas reserves of these "largest public fossil fuel companies continues to grow", despite the "dwindling carbon emissions budget implied by a broad government policy agreement to avoid excessive global warming."
"The trends evidenced in this report demonstrate that reserve growth continues to be the norm for both the oil and gas and the coal sectors as a whole. The 555 Gt CO2 emissions potential estimated to be embedded in the reported reserves of the 200 firms – The Carbon Underground 200 – represents over 400% of the firms’ carbon budget allocation, based on their share of carbon emissions potential of global reserves", the underlines.
According to the report, it "estimates an updated carbon budget based on the only IPCC climate scenario with a future less than 2° C above pre-industrial levels with >66% probability. These estimates broadly confirm growing research on the exposure of public fossil fuel companies, especially those in the coal sector, to potential constraints and revaluation based on stranded assets.
The report further says, "Companies on the list are investable as of January 31, 2015. Subsidiaries with their own exchange listings that report reserves separately from their parent are eligible for inclusion. Companies that publicly trade only a portion of their overall shares are also eligible for inclusion."
It adds, "The rankings are based on calculated carbon emissions data using reserves reported as of October 31, 2014. The ranking are adjusted for company mergers and acquisitions through January 31, 2015."
Pointing towards its methodology, the report says, "Rankings are constructed using a reserves-based methodology with the underlying core data based on 'reported' reserves. Coal reserves are the sum of proven and probable reserves based on the last reported reserves amount by mine.”
It adds, “Reserves are allocated to listed companies based on percentage ownership of individual mines. Oil and gas companies are ranked on proven reserves (1P) net of royalty payments."
The report says, "The Carbon Underground 200 relies on the IPCC Revised 1996 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories as a methodological framework. The calculation of CO2 emission potential requires several conversions to the raw reserves figures."
However, there is a disclaimer in the report: "Fossil Free Indexes LLC and its third-party data providers and licensors do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or availability of the information contained herein".

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