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19 September 2022.
Introduction:
Global Registry of Fossil Fuels is the world’s first public database on fossil fuel reserves, production and emissions.
High Lights:
- The Global Registry of Fossil Fuels is the “first-ever fully transparent” public database that tracks fossil fuels across the world.
- It was launched by the Carbon Tracker and Global Energy Monitor.
- It was released to coincide with the two important international climate talks – the UNGA, which is set to commence in New York on September 13 and COP27, which will be organized in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in November.
- This inventory has data from more than 50,000 oil, gas and coal fields in 89 countries.
- This accounts for 75 per cent of global production.
- Prior to the release of the Global Registry of Fossil Fuels, it was very difficult to access data concerning these fossil fuel fields for investors, experts and activists.
- The inventory would help remove gaps on knowledge about global supply of oil, gas and coal and enable policymakers to better manage their phase out.
- Human activities since the Industrial Revolution has resulted in temperature reaching just under 1.2°C, causing severe drought, floods and storms as well as the rising sea levels.
- According to this inventory, burning of the world’s remaining fossil fuels would release 3.5 trillion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. This is seven times the remaining carbon budget to keep global temperature at 1.5 °C.
- The United States and Russia have enough fossil fuel underground and untapped to exhaust the remaining carbon budget.
What is carbon budget?
Carbon budget refers to the remaining carbon the world can afford to emit before the 1.5°C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement is missed. According to the estimates of the United Nations, the Earth’s remaining carbon budget is around 360 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent or nine years at the current emission levels.