Climate TRACE (Tracking Real-Time Atmospheric Carbon Emissions)[1] is an independent group which monitors and publishes greenhouse gas emissions.[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]
| Type | Nonprofit |
|---|---|
| Website | climatetrace |
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[update], the coalition consists of:[21]
- Nonprofits: CarbonPlan, Earthrise Alliance, Global Energy Monitor, Hudson Carbon, OceanMind, Rocky Mountain Institute, TransitionZero, and WattTime
- Companies: Blue Sky Analytics and Hypervine
- Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore
