The world’s top 10 “carbon bombs” and what they mean for climate change
Publication year
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UNCCD Library
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Web resource
Much has been done by countless people, organizations, businesses and leaders to stave off the effects of climate change. Over decades, concerned individuals have changed their diets, switched to renewable energy, taken organized action and invested money in a desperate bid to save future generations from the hardships of living in a world heated beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius.
But these efforts could be derailed by massive fossil fuel projects either planned or already running.
This May, The Guardian published an in-depth article introducing readers to “carbon bombs” – fossil fuel projects planned or in operation that over their lifetime will release more than 1 gigaton of carbon dioxide emissions. (For reference, 1 ton of carbon dioxide is approximately equivalent to the emissions from a single passenger flying from Paris to New York; a gigaton is a billion of these flights.) Although the Guardian article only included oil and gas projects, the research on which it was based found that 425 carbon bombs exist when coal projects are included.
Oil, gas and coal carbon bombs combined are expected to emit 1,182.3 gigatons of carbon dioxide. This is twice the world’s total remaining carbon budget for even a chance to meet the targets laid out in the Paris Agreement to keep global warming in check.
This revelation comes at a the most difficult time yet for tackling climate change. Millions of people, particularly from developing countries, are struggling to get by in a time marked by rising energy prices due to the war in Ukraine. Despite recent progress on decarbonizing their economies, countries are now scrambling for fossil fuels to burn.
This leaves no easy path to decarbonization. And yet the climate crisis refuses to wait for the world to be ready. The authors of the research mentioned above stated that they put the list of carbon bombs together to provide a focus for climate activists and policymakers on “defusing” the biggest fossil fuel projects. Landscape News has further narrowed it down here to the ten biggest carbon bombs: READ further from the source above
But these efforts could be derailed by massive fossil fuel projects either planned or already running.
This May, The Guardian published an in-depth article introducing readers to “carbon bombs” – fossil fuel projects planned or in operation that over their lifetime will release more than 1 gigaton of carbon dioxide emissions. (For reference, 1 ton of carbon dioxide is approximately equivalent to the emissions from a single passenger flying from Paris to New York; a gigaton is a billion of these flights.) Although the Guardian article only included oil and gas projects, the research on which it was based found that 425 carbon bombs exist when coal projects are included.
Oil, gas and coal carbon bombs combined are expected to emit 1,182.3 gigatons of carbon dioxide. This is twice the world’s total remaining carbon budget for even a chance to meet the targets laid out in the Paris Agreement to keep global warming in check.
This revelation comes at a the most difficult time yet for tackling climate change. Millions of people, particularly from developing countries, are struggling to get by in a time marked by rising energy prices due to the war in Ukraine. Despite recent progress on decarbonizing their economies, countries are now scrambling for fossil fuels to burn.
This leaves no easy path to decarbonization. And yet the climate crisis refuses to wait for the world to be ready. The authors of the research mentioned above stated that they put the list of carbon bombs together to provide a focus for climate activists and policymakers on “defusing” the biggest fossil fuel projects. Landscape News has further narrowed it down here to the ten biggest carbon bombs: READ further from the source above
Keywords
carbon footprint
carbon stocks
fossil fuels
climate change