Three Indonesian fossil energy companies – PT Alamtri Resources Indonesia (Adaro Energy), PT Bumi Resources, and State energy giant PT Pertamina – are among the 180 global carbon majors or major carbon emitters responsible for causing 213 heatwaves worldwide between 2000 and 2023.

This finding is part of a new report published in Nature Journal, which reveals that 213 historical heatwaves occurred from 2000 to 2023 as a direct result of climate change, with contributions from 180 carbon majors, including fossil fuel and cement producers. Worldwide, nearly half a million people have died from heatwaves between 2000 and 2019, with many of these deaths directly linked to climate change.

The study also discovered that heatwaves were about 20 times more likely to occur between 2000 and 2009 compared to the pre-industrial era, and their likelihood surged to 200 times higher between 2010 and 2019. Emissions from these major carbon-producing companies have contributed to half of the increase in the intensity of heatwaves since the period of 1850-1900.

“We can now directly link the observed increase in the frequency and intensity of heatwaves with major ‘carbon’ companies in oil, gas, coal, and cement. These companies should be aware that they will likely be held accountable and may have to compensate individuals and communities harmed by heatwaves, exacerbated by the carbon fuels they have and continue to inject into global trade,” Richard Heede, Director of the Climate Accountability Institute and one of the study’s authors, said as quoted in a statement on Monday, September 15, 2025.

Globally, emissions from 14 global entities are equivalent to those of 166 other major companies combined. These 14 companies are responsible for about 30 percent of the total cumulative anthropogenic CO₂ emissions since 1850. Two of these are the world’s oil giants, ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco.

In Indonesia, emissions from Adaro Energy, Bumi Resources, and Pertamina alone were sufficient to trigger 50 of the 213 heatwaves analyzed between 2000 and 2023. In a hypothetical world where only the emissions from these three companies exist, 50 extreme heat events would still have occurred.

The report also indicated that depending on the company, the individual contribution of these carbon majors was significant enough to trigger between 16 to 53 heatwaves that would otherwise have been impossible without climate change.

“We can now point to specific heatwaves and say: Saudi Aramco did this. ExxonMobil did this. Shell did this. When emissions from these companies alone are enough to trigger heatwaves that should never have happened, we’re talking about real people dying, crops failing, and communities suffering − all because of decisions made in corporate boardrooms,” Cassidy DiPaola, a spokesperson for the campaign Make Polluters Pay, said.

This discovery presents the first large-scale chain of evidence linking specific companies' emissions to particular extreme heat events. Prior climate attribution studies had lacked a systematic framework outlining the causal relationship between corporate emissions and extreme events.

“The International Court of Justice has recently stated that the production of fossil fuels can be considered an act of international law violation that grants victims the right to reparations. This is the evidence that courts have been waiting for. We can now name and count who is responsible for this disaster. The bill is overdue, and it is time for these polluters to pay for the damage they have caused,” Cassidy emphasized.