UN Secretary-General remarks at launch of Climate TRACE Greenhouse Gas Inventory

Let me begin by thanking the Climate TRACE coalition and Al Gore for this critical initiative.

The climate crisis is in front of our eyes – but also hidden in plain sight.

We have huge emissions gaps, finance gaps, adaptation gaps.

But those gaps cannot be effectively addressed without plugging the data gaps.

After all, it is impossible to effectively manage and control what we cannot measure.

Timely and granular data on the sources of the emissions is essential.

But we are still lacking a full picture.

Many significant sources of emissions are not yet on our radar in real time.

That’s where you come in.

Initiatives like Climate TRACE are ushering in an era of radical transparency for emissions tracking – providing independent emissions data based primarily on direct observation of emitting activities.

You are making it more difficult to greenwash or — to be more clear – to cheat.

One of the most striking early insights from this work is the scale of emissions from oil and gas production – particularly those that have not previously been reported.

Climate TRACE data show that because of underreporting of methane leaks, flaring, and other activities associated with oil and gas production, emissions are many times higher than previously reported.

This should be a wake-up call to Governments and the financial sector, especially those that continue to invest in and underwrite fossil fuel pollution.

The problem is even greater than we were led to believe and that means we must work even harder to accelerate the phase out of all fossil fuels.

Today, the Climate TRACE coalition is releasing a detailed inventory of global emissions.

This dataset is a critical resource.

For business leaders working to decarbonize their supply chains.

For governments working to align policymaking with their national climate action plans.

And for investors working to track private sector progress toward net zero.

Climate action must be guided by science, data and facts.

Thank you for helping to reveal the full picture of the challenge that underscores the need to act. And act now.