Global Carbon Bomb Projects Continue Despite Climate Commitments: 28 New Fossil Fuel Ventures Since 2021

Despite global commitments to phase out fossil fuels established at COP28, a coalition of NGOs revealed Monday that 28 "carbon bomb" fossil fuel extraction projects have commenced operations since 2021, posing severe threats to climate stability.

The term "carbon bomb" was introduced in a 2022 research publication, referring to oil, gas, or coal facilities with the capacity to emit more than one billion tons of CO2 during their operational lifespans. At that time, researchers identified 425 such projects globally.

The year 2021 marks a critical threshold, as the International Energy Agency declared that launching new oil and gas ventures contradicted climate objectives outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Two years following this announcement, nations worldwide committed to initiating a fossil fuel phase-out during COP28.

The latest assessment comes from a collaboration of NGOs including Lingo, Data for Good, Reclaim Finance, and Eclaircies.

Their research indicates that approximately 365 projects continue to produce more than one billion tonnes of emissions, with the adjusted figure reflecting operations that have either reduced production or undergone reassessment.

China dominates these "carbon bombs" with 43 percent of the total, followed by Russia at nine percent and the United States at five percent.

Western oil giants operate the most projects, though Saudi Aramco and China's CHN Energy generate the highest emissions levels.

The report additionally identified over 2,300 smaller extraction projects that have been approved or initiated since 2021. Each of these projects has potential emissions exceeding five million tonnes of CO2—comparable to the annual carbon footprint of Paris.

Collectively, the potential CO2 emissions from all these ventures surpass the global "carbon budget" for limiting warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by a factor of 11, according to the authors' calculations.

Climate scientists project that this critical temperature threshold established in the Paris Agreement will likely be exceeded within this decade.

Nevertheless, between 2021 and 2024, the world's 65 largest banking institutions provided more than $1.6 trillion in financing to companies involved in the projects highlighted in this report.