Fiscal Years 2018-2019

Fortune 500 Emissions Report

The most up-to-date accounting of the emissions for every company contained in the Fortune 500 list for the fiscal year 2019. Download the report now.

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Annual Emissions of 500 Companies

13.2 Billion tons of CO₂

The total carbon footprint of the 500 largest companies in the U.S. economy represents more than 27% of worldwide emissions.

Key Findings

Global GHG emissions totaled 49.7 tCO₂e in 2019, and Fortune 500 companies accounted for 13.15 tCO₂e of that amount.
Actual reported emissions from Fortune 500 companies equalled 8.04 billion tonnes CO2e in 2018 and 7.56 billion tonnes CO2e in 2019.
Fortune 500 aggregate Scope 3 emissions totalled 5.68B tCO₂ in 2019
The combined GHG footprint for Fortune 500 companies is estimated to have been 13.34 billion tonnes CO2e in 2018 and 13.15 billion tonnes CO2e in 2019.
Corporate emission footprints publicly disclosed to stakeholders often cite lower volumes of emissions than what is disclosed to CDP.
A combination of carbon removal and renewable energy deployment are the only solutions currently available that have the potential to match the GHG reduction needed, based on estimated emission rates, however their efficacy is dependent on the ability to scale these two industries at an urgent pace.
Stronger governmental regulation and oversight is likely required to ensure both emission reporting and emission reductions accelerate on schedule with science-based targets.

Report Contributors

This study–written by Adele Barbato, researched by Eric Kenny, and edited and designed by Trey Pringle and Philip-Michael Weiner–provides the most in-depth look at the carbon footprint and reporting standards of the United States of America's largest and most profitable enterprises.