Unnatural Disasters: The Connection Between Extreme Weather and Fossil Fuels

The briefing establishes that fossil fuels are responsible for approximately 70% of carbon dioxide emissions since the industrial revolution, with a small number of companies contributing a disproportionate share. It highlights the role of attribution science in linking specific extreme weather events to climate change and details the growing trend of using the 'polluter pays' principle in litigation and legislation to hold these companies financially accountable. The document further argues that to meet the 1.5C target, global fossil fuel production must decrease significantly by 2030, supported by a transition to renewable energy and electric vehicles.

• Fossil fuels have contributed approximately 69% of global carbon dioxide emissions since the industrial revolution, with 80% of that amount originating from the 'Carbon Majors', a group of 122 oil, gas, coal, and cement firms.
• A small group of 20 fossil fuel companies were responsible for more than one third of global carbon dioxide and methane emissions (480 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent) from 1965 onwards.
• Between 1985 and 2018, the twelve highest-emitting 'Carbon Majors' earned USD 21 trillion in profits, while being responsible for an estimated USD 15 trillion in economic damages based on a social cost of carbon of USD 185 per tonne.
• Attribution science, comprising over 500 studies, has demonstrated that human-caused climate change has increased the strength and likelihood of heatwaves and driven compound events such as simultaneous floods and heatwaves.
• Fossil fuel companies have historically known about the climate impacts of their products since at least the 1960s but engaged in campaigns of denial, disinformation, and lobbying to block climate progress and delay the adoption of renewable energy.
• Legal actions to hold the industry accountable are increasing, including a May 2024 law in Vermont to fund climate damages and lawsuits in Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Peru linking specific weather events or environmental damage to fossil fuel emissions.
• To align with the 1.5C target, oil production must fall by 15% and gas production by 30% by 2030 (relative to 2020 levels), and nearly 40% of existing oil, gas, and coal reserves must remain in the ground.
• Global efforts to reduce demand are showing progress, with global renewable capacity additions reaching nearly 510 GW in 2023 and electric vehicle sales displacing approximately 0.9 million barrels of oil per day in 2023.

APA

Team, Z. (2024). Unnatural Disasters: The Connection Between Extreme Weather and Fossil Fuels. Zero Carbon Analytics. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/unnatural-disasters-the-connection-between-extreme-weather-and-fossil-fuels/

Chicago

Team, ZCA. Unnatural Disasters: The Connection Between Extreme Weather and Fossil Fuels. Zero Carbon Analytics, 2024. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/unnatural-disasters-the-connection-between-extreme-weather-and-fossil-fuels/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Team |first1=ZCA |title=Unnatural Disasters: The Connection Between Extreme Weather and Fossil Fuels |publisher=Zero Carbon Analytics |date=23 July 2024 |url=https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/unnatural-disasters-the-connection-between-extreme-weather-and-fossil-fuels/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{team2024unnatural, author = {Team, ZCA}, title = {{Unnatural Disasters: The Connection Between Extreme Weather and Fossil Fuels}}, institution = {Zero Carbon Analytics}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/unnatural-disasters-the-connection-between-extreme-weather-and-fossil-fuels/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }