Fossil fuel firms owe climate reparations of $209bn a year, says study

Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state oil company, owes reparations worth $43bn annually, the report said. Photograph: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters

The world’s top fossil fuel companies owe at least $209bn in annual climate reparations to compensate communities most damaged by their polluting business and decades of lies, a new study calculates.

BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Total, Saudi Arabia’s state oil company and Chevron are among the largest 21 polluters responsible for $5.4tn (£4.3tn) in drought, wildfires, sea level rise, and melting glaciers among other climate catastrophes expected between 2025 and 2050, according to groundbreaking analysis published in the journal One Earth.