Closing Gaps in Emissions Monitoring with Climate TRACE

TL;DR

Climate TRACE introduces an open-access platform providing detailed, accurate, and timely global greenhouse gas emissions data at the source level, filling critical gaps in existing datasets to support climate action worldwide.

Contribution

It is the first platform to offer comprehensive, source-specific global emissions estimates with high resolution and frequent updates, enhancing the actionability of emissions data.

Findings

Provides emissions data for individual sources globally

Offers monthly updates with a two-month lag

Enables non-technical audiences to access detailed emissions information

Abstract

Global greenhouse gas emissions estimates are essential for monitoring and mitigation planning. Yet most datasets lack one or more characteristics that enhance their actionability, such as accuracy, global coverage, high spatial and temporal resolution, and frequent updates. To address these gaps, we present Climate TRACE (climatetrace.org), an open-access platform delivering global emissions estimates with enhanced detail, coverage, and timeliness. Climate TRACE synthesizes existing emissions data, prioritizing accuracy, coverage, and resolution, and fills gaps using sector-specific estimation approaches. The dataset is the first to provide globally comprehensive emissions estimates for individual sources (e.g., individual power plants) for all anthropogenic emitting sectors. The dataset spans January 1, 2021, to the present, with a two-month reporting lag and monthly updates. The open-access platform enables non-technical audiences to engage with detailed emissions datasets for most subnational governments worldwide. Climate TRACE supports data-driven climate action at scales where decisions are made, representing a major breakthrough for emissions accounting and mitigation.