Corporations owned by French billionaires top emitters: Study

By Shweta Desai

PARIS (AA) - The carbon footprint emissions of corporations owned by top French billionaires are the same as those of half the country's population, a new study has revealed, shedding light on the staggering climate inequalities.

The report analyzing the carbon footprint emissions of companies and businesses owned by 63 French billionaires was released on Tuesday by the French offices of Oxfam and Greenpeace NGOs.

These financial assets, it has found, emit greenhouse gas equal to emissions from that of 50% of French households, with at least 152 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent in one year, which is as much as the combined emission of smaller Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

It named the mass distribution retail company Auchan, owned by Gerard Mulliez, CMA-CGM shipping operator Rodolphe Saade, and dairy produce corporation Lactalis by Emmanuel Besnier as the top three polluters emitting carbon emissions equal to 23.4% of the French population.

The Mulliez Family Association alone; controlling over 30 large companies, including Decathlon sports stores, Boulanger electronics stores, Pimkie, Orsay and Kiabi fashion, emits CO2 equivalent to 11 % of French households or 3 million times more CO2 than the average French household, the report said.

“While the French population is called upon to make more efforts in the face of climate change, large companies are not subjected to any significant obligation like financial penalty or binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions."

It estimated the level of emissions from the French-domiciled CAC 40 companies, including the ones analyzed, would contribute to + 3.5°C of global warming by 2100.

The report accused the government of turning a blind eye from holding the billionaire-owned corporations from committing “climaticide.” It noted that the large profit-making and polluting companies have benefited the most from the industrial recovery policies announced by President Emmanuel Macron in the aftermath of the 2020 lockdown.

The government transferred 100 billion euros to private companies as part of the recovery plan. However, these corporations are still not mandated to adhere to climate action plans and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to contain climate change, even though France is the leading signatory of the 2015 Paris Agreement, the report added.

The NGOs have called upon the French government to urgently reinstate the Solidarity tax on Wealth (tax on those owning assets in excess of €1,300,000 that was abolished by the Macron government in 2017) based on the carbon footprint of their financial assets, an additional tax on dividends for companies that do not respect the Paris Agreement and laying out specific targets for large companies on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.