Amid the ongoing debate over how to arrive at a global climate deal which may be acceptable to all nations, new research on greenhouse gas emissions has listed 90 companies - mostly belonging to rich countries - as the major culprits who emitted nearly two-thirds of the total carbon dioxide and methane emissions in the world since 1751.

 

The research will further strengthen the developing countries' argument seeking developed nations to act on emission cuts keeping in mind their historical responsibility.

 

 

The research shows that 90 companies from across the globe had emitted 63% of total industrial emissions (carbon dioxide and methane) during 1751-2010.

 

Though the report has put remaining 37% of the total emissions under the "unattributed" category, it carried a detailed list of all state-owned and private entities which were responsible for emitting 914 gigatonnes of CO2 and methane during the period since beginning of industrial age.

 

Of these entities, 56 are oil and natural gas companies, 37 are coal producers (including coal subsidiaries of Oil and Gas Company) and seven are cement producers. The list of 90 includes 50 investor-owned (private) companies, 31 state-owned (public) companies and nine ran by nation-states (communist block like former USSR, China, North Korea, Poland, Czech Republic among others)

In fact, 40% of the total such private entities operate in US - the country that had been most vocal while seeking to dilute the differentiation between 'developed' and 'developing' countries during the recently held climate talks in Warsaw, Poland.