News - Climate TRACE
News & Insights
Stay up to date on the latest from Climate TRACE as we share news, data, and insights that help the global community make meaningful climate action faster and easier.
Conversations with the Coalition: Marisa Hughes
May 18, 2023Conversations with the Coalition: Marisa Hughes
As part of a new Climate TRACE series, we are interviewing individual coalition members about their work. Up first is Marisa Hughes from the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), where she manages the team of data scientists applying remote sensing and AI to estimate emissions from road transportation..
Intel from Above: a Q&A on Satellite Completeness with RMI’s Fran Reuland
May 04, 2023Intel from Above: a Q&A on Satellite Completeness with RMI’s Fran Reuland
Fran Reuland is a manager with the Climate Intelligence team at RMI, a member of the Climate TRACE coalition working on data in the oil and gas sector. We sat down with her for a brief interview on satellite completeness, the subject of RMI’s latest report, and Satellite Point source Emissions Completeness Tool (SPECT)..
The Bottom Line on Ground Truth Data
Apr 04, 2023The Bottom Line on Ground Truth Data
A crucial part of the Climate TRACE approach involves training machine learning algorithms with ground truth data. In this article, we look at what it is; when, where, and how we use it; and some common challenges we’ve had to address..
How to parse asset ownership in Climate TRACE data
Feb 26, 2023How to parse asset ownership in Climate TRACE data
Climate TRACE data cover not just where facilities are located, along with estimates of how much GHG emissions they release, but also who owns them. The ownership piece brings important transparency, detail, and accountability to emissions intelligence and climate action..
How to Understand Asset-level Emissions by Country
Jan 27, 2023How to Understand Asset-level Emissions by Country
Since the launch, many users are leveraging the tool to look up the most-emitting facilities in their specific country. Yet sometimes, a funny thing happens: a known source of major emissions for that country appears to be missing from the Climate TRACE asset-level dataset!.
Beyond the UI: What's in the Asset Metadata
Jan 25, 2023Beyond the UI: What's in the Asset Metadata
Much more information is available in the CSV data downloads compared to what is available on the website dashboard. In this article we take a closer look at how the data are organized and what’s contained in the CSV files..
Thirst for (clean) power
Nov 24, 2022Thirst for (clean) power
Satellite data analyzed by TransitionZero as part of the Climate TRACE initiative reveals a sharp increase in the burning of coal in parts of China during the summer of 2022, which led to further water stress during a period of acute drought..
Who’s Driving Climate Change? New Data Catalogs 72,000 Polluters and Counting
Nov 09, 2022Who’s Driving Climate Change? New Data Catalogs 72,000 Polluters and Counting
A nonprofit backed by Al Gore and other big environmental donors says it can track emissions down to individual power plants, oil fields and cargo ships..
Gore Announces Fossil Fuel Emissions Inventory at UN Summit
Nov 09, 2022Gore Announces Fossil Fuel Emissions Inventory at UN Summit
A detailed inventory of the top known sources of greenhouse gas emitters found that the top 14 individual polluters are all gas and oil fields and their associated facilities, despite their emissions being “significantly underreported.”.
This Global Emissions Inventory is Al Gore’s Secret Weapon at COP27
Nov 09, 2022This Global Emissions Inventory is Al Gore’s Secret Weapon at COP27
The Climate TRACE coalition unveiled a new, highly detailed inventory of global greenhouse gas emissions, which it hopes will help countries and companies looking for effective, targeted ways to decarbonize..
Al Gore-affiliated Group Finds Systematic Emissions Underreporting
Nov 09, 2022Al Gore-affiliated Group Finds Systematic Emissions Underreporting
A coalition of groups using satellite observations, artificial intelligence and machine learning revealed on Wednesday the most comprehensive facility-level accounting of global carbon emissions..
This Map Shows Exactly Where 70,000 of the World’s Biggest Polluters are Located
Nov 09, 2022This Map Shows Exactly Where 70,000 of the World’s Biggest Polluters are Located
With data on cargo ships, oil fields, cattle feedlots, and more, the map could help businesses, investors, and policymakers know what sites to target first in order to reduce emissions..
Johns Hopkins APL Uses AI, Satellite Images to Track Greenhouse Emissions
Nov 09, 2022Johns Hopkins APL Uses AI, Satellite Images to Track Greenhouse Emissions
Learn how Climate TRACE member Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory is creating automated, accurate, global, timely and actionable road transportation GHG emissions estimates for the top 500 emitting cities worldwide using satellite data and AI..
Clearing the path to easier, more-accurate Scope 3 emissions intelligence
Oct 28, 2022Clearing the path to easier, more-accurate Scope 3 emissions intelligence
An accurate and complete understanding of Scope 3 emissions is central to any life cycle assessment (LCA) of a company’s or product’s carbon footprint..
STARRS project launched to provide accurate emissions data for states and regions
Mar 24, 2022STARRS project launched to provide accurate emissions data for states and regions
The Climate Group and Under2 Coalition launch the “States and Regions Remote Sensing” (STARRS) project, using Climate TRACE data to help governments to improve their understanding of their current and historical GHG emissions. .
FULL REPORT: Bringing Radical Transparency to Global Emissions
Nov 01, 2021FULL REPORT: Bringing Radical Transparency to Global Emissions
How Climate TRACE is harnessing satellites and artificial intelligence to advance emissions monitoring through direct observation and open data. Includes a look at 2021 YTD data for certain sectors and countries..
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Bringing Radical Transparency to Global Emissions
Nov 01, 2021EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Bringing Radical Transparency to Global Emissions
How Climate TRACE is harnessing satellites and artificial intelligence to advance emissions monitoring through direct observation and open data. Includes a look at 2021 YTD data for certain sectors and countries..
Beyond Paris And Countries’ Territorial Waters And Airspace: Tracking Emissions from Shipping and Aviation
Sep 16, 2021Beyond Paris And Countries’ Territorial Waters And Airspace: Tracking Emissions from Shipping and Aviation
In recent years, transportation has emerged as the fastest-growing source of GHG emissions worldwide..
Data project backed by Al Gore aims for real-time emissions monitoring
Sep 16, 2021Data project backed by Al Gore aims for real-time emissions monitoring
A technology and academic coalition backed by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore was set to unveil on Thursday data showing fossil fuel producers' previously unrecorded greenhouse gas emissions, and growing pollution from shipping and aviation. Other details about the precise sources of climate change are also shown in the material by Climate TRACE, drawing on data from satellites and high-level computer analysis..
Satellites may hold countries to their Paris pledges
May 12, 2021Satellites may hold countries to their Paris pledges
Environmental agreements are hard to enforce without independently verified data. But the availability of high-quality satellite imagery — combined with advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning — allows for real-time monitoring of carbon emissions, deforestation and other activities..
A wave of carbon emissions data soon will be upon us
Feb 09, 2021A wave of carbon emissions data soon will be upon us
A radical increase in available carbon emissions data may be just around the corner. Should it happen within a matter of months as proponents hope, its effects will spread around the world to dramatic effect..
Al Gore: Where I Find Hope - NY Times Oped
Dec 12, 2020Al Gore: Where I Find Hope - NY Times Oped
In November of next year, all of the signatories to the Paris Agreement will meet in Glasgow with a mandate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions much faster than they pledged to do in 2015. What will be new in Glasgow is transparency..
Why We Must ALL Invest In Solutions To Save Our Planet
Nov 25, 2020Why We Must ALL Invest In Solutions To Save Our Planet
Make no mistake about it, carbon accounting is the new sustainability. And thanks to innovators like Climate TRACE, which uses AI and satellites to pinpoint both quantity and sources of human-caused emissions, greenwashing will be a thing of the past..
What ML practitioners are doing about climate change
Sep 11, 2020What ML practitioners are doing about climate change
Last year, WattTime received a grant from Google.org’s AI Impact Challenge to see whether computer vision can track power plant emissions outside the U.S. from satellite imagery. In July, WattTime joined nine organizations and Al Gore to form Climate Trace, a group that wants to trace global emissions in major sectors of the economy, like power plants and shipping..
Climate TRACE to track real-time global carbon emissions
Aug 16, 2020Climate TRACE to track real-time global carbon emissions
Combating climate change faces big challenges even beyond those that many people think about much. For instance, carbon emissions are not tracked as they happen, so policy makers and the public don’t know who’s polluting, when, and how much. That makes international agreements, like the Paris Climate agreement, tough to verify. That could soon change..
Tracking climate data in real time
Jul 20, 2020Tracking climate data in real time
Climate TRACE, an alliance of climate research groups, is developing a new tracker using artificial intelligence that would allow the public to access international climate data in real time. They hope to have it ready to unveil at the COP26 climate change meetings in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2021..
Real Time Emissions Data Is Finally Coming, Thanks to Al Gore's New Coalition
Jul 16, 2020Real Time Emissions Data Is Finally Coming, Thanks to Al Gore's New Coalition
With all the alarming climate data out there, you’d think there’s some magical entity diligently measuring greenhouse gas emissions every second of every day — but the reality is, a lot of that data is simply estimates. To clear up the ambiguity and controversy surrounding emissions data reporting, a group of nine climate and tech groups and former Vice President Al Gore have come together to form the Climate TRACE coalition..
How a New Effort to Trace Emissions, Led by Al Gore, Could Reshape Climate Talks
Jul 16, 2020How a New Effort to Trace Emissions, Led by Al Gore, Could Reshape Climate Talks
Historically, there’s been no way for third parties to directly gather data on the greenhouse gas emissions of both public and private entities. Now, a new coalition of nine climate and technology organizations calling themselves Climate Trace say they have used satellite data, artificial intelligence and other technology to track greenhouse-gas emissions from across the globe remotely..
The entire world’s carbon emissions will finally be trackable in real time
Jul 16, 2020The entire world’s carbon emissions will finally be trackable in real time
One of the challenges in managing the greenhouse gas emissions warming the atmosphere is that they aren’t measured very well. The ultimate solution to this problem — the killer app, as it were — would be real-time tracking of all global greenhouse gases, verified by objective third parties, and available for free to the public..
Climate Groups Will Combine AI and Satellites to Monitor GHG Emissions Worldwide
Jul 15, 2020Climate Groups Will Combine AI and Satellites to Monitor GHG Emissions Worldwide
Nine nonprofits, tech companies, and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore announce ‘Climate TRACE’ coalition to build upon unprecedented technical breakthroughs to actively identify, measure, and trace all significant human-caused GHG emissions to their sources.
This Al Gore-supported project uses AI to track the world’s emissions in near real time
Jul 15, 2020This Al Gore-supported project uses AI to track the world’s emissions in near real time
As the world tries to figure out how to flatten the climate curve—cutting global emissions in half by the end of the decade, and reaching net-zero emissions by the middle of the century—one challenge is how to track current emissions from every power plant, farm, and other source on the planet. A new project called the Climate TRACE Coalition plans to use satellite imagery and AI to ....
