Carbon Candour

For the first time in history, global fossil fuel data has been released to the public—possibly reshaping climate activism as we know it.

The Global Registry of Fossil Fuels was launched on September 26, 2022 to the world.

But what does that mean?

The general public now has access to an online database: providing information all about oil, gas and coal usage internationally—and more crucially, what governments are planning to do with these fuels.

The Global Registry of Fossil Fuels includes data from over 50,000 oil, gas and coal fields in 89 countries—this covers 75% of global carbon intelligence!

For example, through the Registry’s research, they have found

that the United States and Russia have very large amounts of fossil fuel underground, which if extracted, will emit far too much carbon. So much carbon, in fact, that the world’s 1.5 degree celsius temperature limit will be reached. Such temperature levels would have cataclysmic impacts on our planet.

The Global Registry of Fossil Fuels’ purpose is to tell us, in a nutshell, what governments are going to do about situations like these. More specifically: the current and future plans for fossil fuel production, reserves, and emissions. This will include licence issuance affairs—the agreements and contracts governments make with organisations about carbon.

Why is this good news?

The public has never before had access to a collection of data this size. Until now, this kind of analysis has only been private data for purchase—this means that corporations, investors and scientists already have some level of access.

However, civil society groups’ new found understanding of carbon affairs means they have a bigger stake in the conversation.

The public now has an opportunity to consider and debate international governments’ action regarding their carbon resources—who is it being licensed to? Is this the right decision? What effect will this have? What’s the better option?

This international intelligence allows for a collective, worldwide conversation about how best to achieve an environmentally conscious result.

It arms environmental and climate groups to engage with, collaborate, pressure or challenge national leaders to agree to stronger policies that result in less carbon emissions.

Transparency about carbon emissions is the only way to overcome their effects. On September 26, 2022, we took a step closer to that.