A recent study has found that just 104 companies, mostly multinational corporations from high-income countries, are involved in a fifth of the more than 3,000 environmental conflicts it analyzed.
The study examined 3,388 conflicts, involving 5,589 companies, recorded in the Global Atlas of Environmental Justice (EJAtlas) as of October 2024. The atlas is the world’s largest database of environmental conflicts documented by researchers, activists, journalists and students, and it includes records of extractive, industrial or legislative projects, including mines and oil pipelines that organized groups contest on socioecological grounds.
The study’s author, Marcel Llavero-Pasquina, an EJAtlas coordinator, found that around 2%, or 104 of the 5,500+ companies, played a part in 20% of all analyzed conflicts. Llavero-Pasquina labels these companies, involved in at least seven conflicts each, as “superconflictive” because they’re “a significant driver of environmental injustice globally.”
Dug in to snag the list of 104 companies: Royal Dutch Shell, TotalEnergies, Chevron, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Glencore, Rio Tinto, Eni, ExxonMobil, Enel, Engie, Bayer, Vale, EDF, WeBuild, BHP Billiton, Newmont, Oando, Anglo Gold Ashanti, Rosatom, Repsol, BP, Mitsui, Anglo American, Sinohydro, Naturgy, SUEZ, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara, KEPCO, Eletrobras, Iberdrola, Mistubishi, Dow Chemical, Petrobras, Ecopetrol, LafargeHolcim, Barrick Gold, Odebrecht, RWE, Areva, Sinopec, Zijin, Sacyr, Equinor, Alstom, AES Corporation, Allied Energy Systems Corporation, China Three Gorges Corporation, ConocoPhillips, Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, Veolia, Vinci, Siemens, Cargill, National Thermal Power Corporation, General Electric, Gazprom, Teck, China Energy Investment Corporation (国家能源投资集团), Vattenfall, Cemex, China National Petroleum Corporation, YPF, Berkeley Minera España, PDVSA, Wilmar, PETRONAS, Sumitomo, Grupo Mexico, DuPont, Consolidated Edison, Tata, China Communication Construction Company, Federal Electricity Comission Mexico, Camargo Correa, ICA, China Harbour Engineering Company, Carso Infraestructura y Construcción, China Huadian Engineering, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Alcoa, Occidental Petroleum, Dole, Birla, Pemex, Perenco, Pan American Silver, PTT Public Company Limited, PowerChina, Verra, Enbridge Inc, Grupo Luksic, FCC, Buenaventura, AECOM, Itochu, Acciona, ESKOM, Petroecuador, Andritz Group, Coca-Cola, CODELCO, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Jaypee Group, Posco
Don’t forget the companies that buy up green tech patients and shelve them for anti competitive purposes.
