Climate TRACE
Websiteclimatetrace.org

Climate TRACE (Tracking Real-Time Atmospheric Carbon Emissions)[1] is an independent group which monitors and publishes greenhouse gas emissions within weeks.[2] It launched in 2021 before COP26,[3] and improves monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of both carbon dioxide and methane.[4][5] The group monitors sources such as coal mines and power station smokestacks worldwide,[6] with satellite data (but not their own satellites) and artificial intelligence.[7][8]

Time magazine named it as one of the hundred best inventions of 2020.[9] Their emissions map is the largest global inventory and interactive map of greenhouse gas emission sources.[10][11][12] According to Kelly Sims Gallagher it could influence the politics of climate change by reducing MRV disputes, and lead to more ambitious climate pledges.[4]

Developed countries' annual reports to the UNFCCC are submitted over a year after the end of the monitored year.[13] Developing countries in the Paris Agreement will submit every two years.[14][15] Some large emitters, such as Iran which has not ratified the agreement, have not submitted a greenhouse gas inventory in the 2020s.[16]

New data was released around the time of the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference.[17]

Methods

Power plant emissions are tracked by training software with supervised learning to combine satellite imagery with other open data, such as government datasets, OpenStreetMap,[18] and company reports.[19] Similarly large ships will be tracked to better understand emissions from international shipping.[20]

Members

As of 2023 the coalition consists of:[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ Gore, Al (December 12, 2020). "Opinion | Al Gore: Where I Find Hope". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  2. ^ "Climate TRACE to track real-time global carbon emissions". Yale Climate Connections. August 17, 2020. Archived from the original on July 12, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  3. ^ Freedman, Andrew. "Al Gore's Climate TRACE tracking group finds vast undercounts of emissions". Axios. Archived from the original on 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  4. ^ a b Roberts, David (July 16, 2020). "The entire world's carbon emissions will finally be trackable in real time". Vox. Archived from the original on July 10, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  5. ^ "Methane: A Threat to People and Planet". Rocky Mountain Institute. July 7, 2021. Archived from the original on July 10, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  6. ^ "Transcript: The Path Forward: Al Gore on Climate and the Economy". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  7. ^ Puko, Timothy (April 13, 2021). "John Kerry Says U.S. Will Hold China to Account on Climate Pledges". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on July 10, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  8. ^ Peters, Adele (July 15, 2020). "This Al Gore-supported project uses AI to track the world's emissions in near real time". Fast Company. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  9. ^ "The 100 Best Inventions of 2020". Time. Archived from the original on July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  10. ^ Cockburn, Harry (9 November 2022). "Global oil and gas emissions 'up to three times higher than companies claim'". The Independent. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Emissions Map - Climate TRACE". climatetrace.org. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  12. ^ "News - Climate TRACE". climatetrace.org. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  13. ^ "4. Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Inventories in the Enhanced Transparency Framework". United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Archived from the original on 2019-11-12. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  14. ^ "Reporting and Review under the Paris Agreement". United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Archived from the original on 2020-05-17. Retrieved April 20, 2020. Parties under the Paris Agreement are required to submit their first biennial transparency report (BTR1) and national inventory report, if submitted as a stand-alone report, in accordance with the MPGs, at the latest by 31 December 2024
  15. ^ Anna Schulz, Fernanda Alcobé. "Implementing the Paris Agreement: LDC gaps and needs in greenhouse gas inventory reporting". Publications Library. Archived from the original on 2021-05-28. Retrieved July 17, 2021. Developing countries update their GHG inventories, mitigation actions, needs and support received within their BUR
  16. ^ "Documents and decisions: Iran". United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2019-11-14. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  17. ^ Ma, Michelle (2022-07-22). "This Al Gore-backed coalition is trying to hold climate polluters accountable". Protocol. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
  18. ^ "Organised Editing/Activities/Climate TRACE – OpenStreetMap Wiki". OpenStreetMap. Archived from the original on May 27, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  19. ^ "Satellites – Watttime". Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  20. ^ "Al Gore spearheads new initiative to track and publish every ship's carbon footprint". Splash247. July 17, 2020. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  21. ^ "Home". Climate Trace. Archived from the original on July 8, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
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