A new study [by Union of Concerned Scientists] quantifies the impacts of emissions traced to major fossil fuel producers on our changing climate... As early as 1977, investor-owned fossil fuel companies knew their business was risky—that the use of their products released dangerous amounts of carbon dioxide and methane emissions that could destabilize our climate... [N]ow have the science to determine how much the emissions related to fossil products have contributed to global temperature rise and sea level rise.... A peer-reviewed study...  analyzed and quantified the climate change impacts of carbon dioxide and methane emissions traced to each company for two time-periods: 1880 to 2010 and 1980 to 2010... Emissions traced to 50 investor-owned carbon producers, including BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Peabody, Shell and Total, were responsible for:

• roughly 16 percent of the global average temperature increase from 1880 to 2010,
• and around 11 percent of the global sea level rise during the same time frame.

“Companies knowingly violated the most basic moral principle of 'do no harm,' and now they must remedy the harm they caused by paying damages and their proportion of adaptation costs," argues Henry Shue, professor... at the University of Oxford and author of a commentary on the ethical implications of the [study].