High-carbon concerns in science and sport and poisonous SUVs

According to the results of a study by think tank Data for Progress and the non-profit group Fossil-Free Research, between 2010 and 2020, six fossil fuel companies donated a minimum of more than $700 million in academic research funding to 27 US universities. Among the beneficiaries were the University of California at Berkeley, Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This kind of funding for climate research universities can direct research programmes and policies towards solutions favoured by the fossil fuel industry.

Winter sports are sponsored by companies in the high-carbon sector of the economy, although their activities contribute to melting the snow that these sports need. According to the Badvertising group and think tank New Weather Sweden, more than 100 sporting events, organisations and athletes have been subsidised by fuel companies, car manufacturers and airlines; for instance, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation is supported by Audi AG. Almost 90 per cent of the vehicles produced by this company in 2021 were powered by petrol or diesel.

According to the International Energy Agency,  global SUV sales in 2022 increased greenhouse gas emissions to almost 1 billion t of carbon dioxide. Last year, SUVs on the road emitted as much of it as the UK and Germany combined. If the owners of these cars lived in one country, they would rank sixth in terms of global emissions.