We constantly hear that climate change is the result of all our actions. The cars we drive, the diet we have, and our personal choices. But the real data tells a different story. In 2024, just 32 fossil fuel companies were responsible for half of the world’s carbon emissions. This shows that this is not simply about individual choices and responsibility. It’s about who holds power over the energy system.
These companies own the oil fields, refineries, and pipelines that make fossil fuel extraction possible. Their actions, not the workers driving to their jobs or families trying to keep their house warm, decide how much carbon enters the atmosphere. Emissions are not a side effect of modern life; they are the result of a business model built on extraction for profit.
Workers do not own ExxonMobil or Saudi Aramco. We do not have a say on drilling plans, opening new oil fields, or lobbying against climate regulations. Those decisions are made by executives and big shareholders whose wealth depends on keeping fossil fuels flowing. When climate disasters follow, those at the top face no consequences.
Even though some of the biggest polluters are state-owned companies, that doesn’t make them public in any meaningful sense. These firms operate much like private corporations: exporting fuel, protecting profits, exploiting workers, and blocking international efforts to phase out fossil fuels. Their decisions are made by political elites and their search for profit, not by working people. And the burden of this system ends up where it always does. Working-class communities face pollution in their neighborhoods, deadly heat, floods, and rising food and energy prices. Meanwhile, the profits from fossil fuels are protected.
The challenge of climate change is not how individuals should consume less while corporations keep growing. The real issue is who owns and controls the energy system. As long as a small group is allowed to profit from poisoning the planet, emissions will continue. Climate justice starts with taking their power away.
