Hi all,


I wanted to share the latest data update from OCI on the carbon pollution committed from already developed oil and gas fields and coal mines globally.


It shows that 60% of the coal, oil, and gas reserves in active fields and mines must stay in the ground to keep the 1.5°C heating limit in reach. This data updates the peer-reviewed study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters last year building on our ‘Sky’s Limit’ series first launched in 2016.


You can boost (and maybe tag your favorite politician with a call to keep it in the ground?) via the following:
We hope this new data briefing can help reinforce the demands for no new oil, gas, and coal that UN Secretary-General António Guterres has issued to governments ahead of the UN Climate Ambition Summit September 20th in NYC -- and the call to #EndFossilFuels that folks across the world will be taking to the streets Sept. 15-17.

For more context: 

Our peer-reviewed study published last year had a baseline of 2018 data. Using updated 2023 data, we show the proportion of coal, oil, and gas reserves in active fields and mines that must stay in the ground to meet the 1.5°C limit has increased from nearly 40% as of 2018 to almost 60% in 2023. In other words, the majority of the fossil fuel reserves within active fields and mines should stay in the ground for a livable climate. 


The reason the findings are starker is that the 1.5°C carbon budget has dwindled by one-third since 2018, to just 380 Gt CO2, while the volume of fossil fuels in developed fields and mines is nearly unchanged, enough to cause 915 Gt CO2 if fully extracted.

Other key findings:
  • As of 2023, developed oil and gas reserves alone, if fully extracted, would cause cumulative carbon emissions nearly 25% greater than the world’s remaining 1.5°C carbon budget. Thus, even in the theoretical scenario where coal mining stops immediately, developed oil and gas reserves alone could push the world beyond 1.5°C.
  • A significant portion – almost one-fifth (20%) – of oil and gas fields must be shut down, even if no new fields are developed and coal extraction stops tomorrow.
  • Developed fields and mines contain enough fossil fuel to push the world beyond 2°C, a significantly more dangerous threshold that could make parts of our planet newly uninhabitable.
Please be in touch with any questions. And thanks for any help spreading the word.

Allie

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Allie Rosenbluth (She/They) // US Program Co-Manager, Oil Change International & Oil Change US  // +1 703-298-3639