Repsol was the most polluting company in Spain in 2021, followed by the electricity companies Endesa and EDP

• 30 companies were responsible for 25% of total emissions in Spain, according to data collected by the Sustainability Observatory
• Portugal’s EDP increased greenhouse gas expulsion by 50% in just one year

The companies that emitted the most greenhouse gases in 2021, with the oil company Repsol and the electricity companies Endesa and EDP in the lead, according to a report by the Sustainability Observatory.

Large companies working in Spain emitted 95 tons of CO_₂ equivalent in 2021, 3% more than the previous year, marked by an abrupt decrease in pollution (-24% compared to 2019) due to the halt of the pandemic. The ton of CO_₂ equivalent not only collects carbon dioxide emissions, it also incorporates other polluting gases such as methane or nitrous oxide, to have a reliable picture of the situation.

The authors of the study, published last week, stress that in reality these companies are responsible for polluting much more than that figure, since this report is based on the emission rights that Spanish companies acquire each year in the so-called ETS market (Emissions Trading System).

The problem is that this mechanism, devised by Brussels, only limits the company’s direct emissions – the so-called scope 1 emissions – but does not take into account those derived from the activity – scope 2 and 3 – such as those generated by the electricity consumed by its factories and offices, the displacement of employees or the elimination of waste. To this we must also add the greenhouse gases produced by these multinationals in other countries, since this count only corresponds to their business in Spain.

In any case, the study allows us to observe which companies are largely responsible for the environmental deterioration of Spain, and which have worked to reverse its impact. “At the end of the day, the one that emits the most is the one that has the most responsibility to reverse climate change,” says Fernando Prieto, director of the Sustainability Observatory.

Top 10 polluting companies in Spain

Multinationals operating in Spain have substantially reduced their purchase of emission rights, specifically by 42% since 2008. Even so, much work remains to be done, and experts argue that much ambition is lacking if the objectives set out in the National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) of reducing the expulsion of polluting gases by 23% in 2030 compared to 1990 are to be achieved. “It is not decreasing what it should, at this rate we are not going to reach the goal,” says Prieto.

Even so, companies such as Endesa or Naturgy have cut their environmental impact in recent years, a progress that Ismael Morales, head of Communication and Climate Policy at the Renewables Foundation, attributes to the massive closure of coal plants that occurred between 2018 and 2020. While oil companies such as Repsol or Cepsa cannot quickly get rid of their core business, the sale of fuel.

The most outstanding case of 2021 is the Portuguese Energías de Portugal (EDP), and climbed one position after increasing its emissions by 53% in one year, mainly due to its thermal power plant in Aboño (Asturias) that increased its gas expulsion by 43% to 5.2 tons of CO_₂ equivalent compared to 2020.

According to the ETS registry, on which the Observatory bases its report, Aboño was last year the second most polluting facility in Spain and the twenty-fourth in Europe. Ahead was ArcelorMittal’s steel factory in Asturias, which last year expelled 5.3 tons of CO_₂ equivalent into the atmosphere.

To understand the environmental dimension of these industrial and energy giants, only the 10 most polluting companies in Spain accounted for 57% of the emissions of the Spanish ETS market and 19% of the country’s total emissions. And if it is extended to the first 30 companies, they accounted for 75% of the carbon market and 25% of total air pollution in Spain.

If the magnifying glass is extended, the set of companies that are subscribed to the ETS system emitted 32% of Spain’s pollution last year, while 68% corresponded to the so-called diffuse sectors: the rest of the country’s companies, households and public administration. The remaining 1% corresponded to aviation.

For the country as a whole, the Observatory estimates that emissions grew last year by 5.1%, especially in aviation and transport, because in 2020 they suffered a huge fall. And they believe that the trend will be accentuated this year. “Emissions will most likely increase in 2022 more significantly due to the increase in the use of gas and coal in electricity generation, as well as the increase in transport, especially by road,” the report concludes.

Source: InfoLibre