First global fossil fuel database launched by think tanks; Report

On Monday, a first-of-its-kind database was developed to track global fossil fuel output, oil and gas reserves, and emissions. Data from more than 50,000 oil, gas, and coal fields in 89 nations are included in the record known as the Global Registry of Fossil Fuels. This is the first collection of this magnitude made available for public use and, according to reports, it encompasses 75% of worldwide reserves, production, and emissions.

The International Energy Agency maintains public data that tracks what has already been burned and accounts for the demand for fossil fuels, but private data is available for purchase but differs from that. The Global Energy Monitor and Carbon Tracker, two non-profit organisations that study the energy transition and its impact on the financial markets and are situated in San Francisco respectively, produced the registry.

Carbon Tracker’s founder, Mark Campanale, stated in an interview that ‘civil society organisations have got to get more of a focus on what governments are trying to do in terms of licence issuing, both for coal and oil and gas, and actually begin to fight this permitting process’. He continued by saying that although businesses, investors, and scientists already have some access to this information, he thinks that it will enable other groups to hold governments responsible for their deeds.

The kind of data released by the registry can help environmental and climate groups to pressurize their governments to reduce carbon emissions. ‘We have very little time to address the remaining carbon budget,’ says UN Environment Secretary,ilippo Campanale. The undeveloped and subterranean fossil fuel reserves of the United States and Russia are sufficient to use up the world’s remaining carbon budget. According to earlier forecasts, the globe might still produce 1.5 degrees Celsius worth of carbon before any warming happens. The aforementioned reserves would emit more emissions than have been produced since the Industrial Revolution combined—at least 3.5 trillion tonnes.