They knew. But they picked profits

In 1966, a mine owner was quoted in the American Mining Congress journal saying: “If the future rate of increase [of carbon emissions] continues as it is at present, it has been predicted that, because the CO2 envelope reduces radiation, the temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere will increase and that vast changes in the climates of the Earth will result.”

The concentration of carbon in the atmosphere was 321.59 parts per million. That’s a big jump from the 250 parts per million before the first industrial revolution and the shift in Europe from an agrarian economy to manufacturing when we started burning fossil fuels, which led to the current climate crisis. But it wasn’t too late to turn things around.

We are now well on the way to too late. This week, the World Meteorological Association said the average carbon concentration last year was 407.8 parts per million. That’s past what scientists see as safe, and on the way to the 450 parts per million that will cause crop failures, mass migration and the collapse of civilisation.

The mining boss knew, in 1966, that coal mines were at fault: “There is evidence that the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere is increasing rapidly as a result of the combustion of fossil fuels.” And he knew what would happen because of this: “Such changes in temperature will cause melting of the polar ice caps, which, in turn, would result in the inundation of many coastal cities, including New York and London.”

A 2015 investigation by Insideclimate News found that Exxon, one of the world’s biggest oil companies, similarly knew decades ago about its effect on the climate.

Instead of doing anything with this information, these companies actively squashed information and kept polluting.

South African companies are no different. Our industries pollute twice as much carbon per unit of gross domestic product than the average of the G20 countries. These same companies have, along with the unions meant to protect workers, lobbied to ensure environment and climate legislation is weaker than it should be.

Last year global carbon emissions were at their highest-ever level. Nothing was done to prevent this, despite us living through the hottest years ever recorded.

The boards and owners of big polluters everywhere know what they’re doing. They have blood on their hands. — Sipho Kings