Independent: Energy companies' fuel reserves contain five times the amount of carbon dioxide that can be safely burned

Private and state-owned energy companies own reserves of fuel containing more than 3,200 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide – nearly five times the amount that can be burned if the global temperature is to be kept to within safe levels, according to a report.

The World Bank and Bank of England have warned that the need to tackle climate change could render some fossil fuels worthless – potentially costing investors trillions of dollars.

The top 200 private coal, oil and gas firms currently own fuel reserves containing 555 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, which is close to the maximum amount that scientists believe can be emitted into the atmosphere while still keeping the rise in average temperature to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, The Guardian reported. The carbon in privately owned reserves has gone up by 10 per cent in the last five years.

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