Appendix II
A Note on Industries and Companies Addressed in this Synthesis
The documents referenced in this Synthesis report offer insights into specific activities undertaken by
several Respondent companies, including all five of the largest Carbon Majors as measured by aggregate
emissions. The majority of Respondent companies, however, are not referenced specifically at this time.
Both the Synthesis and the Opinion focus disproportionately on Carbon Majors from the oil and gas
industries and on companies headquartered in or with substantial operations in the United States. This
emphasis arises from the greater availability of public information regarding industry research activities
and engagement on denial efforts in the United States; and the historically smaller number of very large
actors in the oil and gas industry as compared to coal or cement industries. A detailed discussion of these
factors follows.
(1) Climate misinformation campaigns have been actively carried out for many years in Australia, the
United Kingdom and across Europe. Based on the best information currently available, however, climate
denial campaigns within the United States have been among the largest, longest-lived, and best funded
such efforts on a global basis; as a result, they have drawn significantly more media and investigative
attention than climate misinformation efforts with the result that a much greater number of primary
materials, including eyewitness accounts, are available for analysis.
(2) For the first six decades of 20th Century, the global oil and gas industries were vertically integrated
and heavily concentrated among a very small number of companies that exercised substantial control over
all phases of research, exploration, production, transportation, refining, and marketing of petroleum and
petroleum products on a global basis. These companies—known colloquially as the Seven Sisters—
routinely entered into partnerships and joint ventures in countries around the world. As a result, the
largest oil and gas companies evinced a greater than usual degree of coordination and collaboration than
was common in many other industries. Beginning in the 1960s, waves of nationalization by oil-rich
countries reduced industry concentration and control to a significant degree. Since the 1970s, States and
State-Owned Enterprises have accounted for a significant proportion of oil reserves and production (thus
the representation of SOEs among the Carbon Major respondents). Nonetheless, the largest oil companies
remained key service providers in the oil exploration and production space; and waves of mergers and
acquisitions again reduced the number of key investor-owned companies in the industry from the 1980s
onward.
(3) The oil industry began operating internationally very early in its history. Consequently, almost all of
the largest US-based firms operated internationally. Correspondingly, the largest investor-owned oil
companies from Europe, including notably British Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell maintained
significant commercial ties with and operations within the United States. As a result, British Petroleum
and Royal Dutch Shell, or their corporate predecessors, do appear regularly in documents and research
originating in the U.S. Further, documents addressed in the report periodically address the international
role or operations of the U.S. based Carbon Majors, such as ExxonMobil and Chevron.
(4) Notwithstanding the smaller size of individual coal companies relative to the largest oil and gas
companies, particularly in the United States, coal companies exercised significant political influence in
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