The Climate TRACE coalition has said that global greenhouse gas emissions are likely to rise by 0.48% in 2024, following on from a 0.7% increase in emissions last year.
The coalition, which was co-founded by former US vice president Al Gore, revealed new data at COP29 that indicates that between 2015 (the year of the Paris Agreement) and 2023, global emissions have increased 9.2% or 5.2 billion tonnes CO2e.
That increase is more than the combined annual 2023 emissions of every COP host country between France, in 2015, and Brazil, which is set to hold COP30 next year (France, Morocco, Fiji, Poland, Chile, UK, Egypt, UAE, Azerbaijan, Brazil).
Underreporting of emissions
Other findings by Climate TRACE indicate that persistent underreporting of oil and gas emissions continues, largely due to missing reporting on methane emissions – the group suggests that actual emissions from oil and gas production may be three times higher than reported.
Climate TRACE also reported that ‘low-hanging fruit’ measures, including bolstering energy efficiency, offer the most significant near-term opportunities to reduce emissions and address climate injustice.
As it noted, cleaning up the highest-emitting wastewater treatment facilities would reduce 114% more emissions per tonne of waste than cleaning up the cleanest 10% of the wastewater treatment facilities.
Emissions data
At COP29, Climate TRACE announced that for the first time, it is now providing monthly emissions data for every country and every major individual source of emissions in the world, including 9,000 major urban areas around the world.
The data indicates ‘consistent patterns of unequal pollution exposure’, the group said.
‘Pledges and promises’
“Despite pledges and promises, global greenhouse gas emissions continue their steady rise, bringing with them the toxic air pollution that disproportionately impacts communities with fewer resources,” commented former Climate TRACE co-founder Al Gore.
“But when climate leadership at the global and national levels has faltered, it is state and local leaders who have stepped in to fill the void. Now, with the help of breakthroughs in AI, Climate TRACE is filling an information void that has previously hindered local leaders from taking effective action to combat the global climate crisis and environmental injustice.”
The Climate TRACE coalition’s current members include Carbon Yield; CTrees; Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability; Earth Genome; Former Vice President Al Gore; Global Energy Monitor; Hypervine.io; Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab; OceanMind; RMI; TransitionZero; and WattTime, while the group is also supported by more than 100 other contributing organisations and researchers. Read more here. [Photo: UN Climate Change]
