Nieuwe studie toont aan dat 40% van de fossiele brandstofvoorraden in de grond moeten blijven

New peer-reviewed study: 40% of developed fossil fuel reserves need to stay in the ground

Matt Maiorana, Oil Change International <info@priceofoil.org>

This morning we released a new peer-reviewed study proving something we’ve known for years: Already developed oil, gas, and coal extraction could push the world well beyond 1.5°C and jeopardize staying well-below 2°C.

Read more about the study, “Existing fossil fuel extraction would warm the world beyond 1.5 °C” in the Guardian — and then help spread the word that many existing oil, gas, and coal extraction sites need to be phased out on Facebook and Twitter.

Click here to read the Guardian’s coverage of the study: “Shut down fossil fuel production sites early to avoid climate chaos.”

This new journal article is the first peer-reviewed study to back up the findings of the International Energy Agency (IEA): No new coal mines OR oil and gas fields can be developed under a 1.5°C warming limit. But our study goes further — it shows that committed emissions from already developed fields and mines are 60% larger than the remaining carbon budget for 1.5°C

The study was done in collaboration with the International Institute for Sustainable Development and used a commercial database of over 25,000 oil and gas fields and developed a new dataset of coal mines across the largest coal-producing countries.

Using this data, we estimate that developed fields and mines could lead to cumulative emissions of 936 Gt CO2 if their reserves are fully depleted and burned. That’s enough to push far past 1.5°C, almost to 2°C — the very upper bound of the Paris Agreement.

This study builds on and reinforces the many “Sky’s Limit” reports we’ve put out over the past 6 years, the first of which launched back in 2016. Since then we’ve put out similar Sky’s Limit reports focused on Norway, Germany, California, Denmark, UK, and Africa. Across all the reports the message is the same: we need a managed decline of fossil fuel extraction now.

Read about the study in the Guardian’s exclusive coverage — and then help spread the word on Facebook and Twitter.

It’s hard to overstate how important the new analysis is. In the midst of Russia’s war on Ukraine, it’s clearer than ever that building new fossil fuel infrastructure is not a viable option if we want to maintain a livable planet.

Thanks for all you do,

Matt Maiorana
Communications Director
Oil Change International

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