Burning the world's remaining fossil fuel reserves would cause 3.5 trillion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, 7 times the remaining carbon budget, according to the first public inventory of hydrocarbons released Monday.
Since the Industrial Revolution, powered by coal, oil, and gas, human activity has led to just under 1.2 degrees Celsius of warming.
According to the UN, the Earth's remaining carbon budget is estimated to be around 360 billion tonnes of CO 2 equivalent, or 9 years at current emission levels.
According to the UN's annual production gap assessment, governments plan to burn more than twice the fossil fuels by 2030.
There hasn't been a comprehensive inventory of countries' remaining reserves.
The Global Registry of Fossil Fuels seeks to provide greater clarity on oil, gas, and coal reserves to fill knowledge gaps and help policymakers better manage their phase outs.
Some countries hold enough carbon to blow through the entire world's carbon budget.
The US has 520 billion tonnes of CO 2 equivalent. China, Russia and Australia all have enough reserves to miss 1.5 degrees.
The remaining fossil fuel reserves have seven times the carbon budget's emissions.
The deputy Director of Fossil Fuel Non- Proliferation Treaty said there was little time left to address the remaining carbon budget.
It's difficult to measure or regulate production if we don't measure it.
Emissions data for oil, gas, or coal projects can be found in the registry.
The most potent source of emissions is the Ghawar oil field in Saudi Arabia, which produces 525 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
The most polluted sites were in the Gulf or Russia.
The inventory could be used to apply investor pressure in countries with large reserves of oil, but there wasn't much demand to shift from fossil fuels.
"This shows that it is a global challenge and many countries that are major producers but aren't as democratic as the US for example, that's where transparency comes in," she said.
The registry will result in a huge governance regime on fossil fuels. It sheds light on where fossil fuel production is happening to investors and other actors.
The inventory shows that the price of carbon varies between countries, with taxes on emissions in Iraq costing $100 per ton, while in Britain it costs $5 per ton.
The database could help end coal, oil, and gas production.
It will help governments, companies, and investors make decisions to align their fossil fuel production with the 1.5 degree Celsius temperature limit and prevent the demise of our island homes, as well as all countries throughout our global community.
Agence France- Presse.
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