Last month, something revolutionary quietly took place. On March 28, 2025, the world received its first-ever monthly Climate Data update on global greenhouse gas emissions—derived not from self-reported pledges or slow-moving government reports, but from direct, verified observation. Using satellites, sensors, and artificial intelligence, Climate TRACE delivered precise emissions data with just a 60-day lag.
This groundbreaking achievement comes courtesy of Climate TRACE, a coalition backed by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. At the COP29 Climate Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, Gore outlined a transformative vision: give climate data the urgency and transparency that financial markets take for granted.
A Market Signal for the Planet
This is more than data—it’s the birth of a global climate dashboard, something akin to a Bloomberg Terminal for Earth’s health. Investors, regulators, insurers, and policymakers now have regular insight into exactly who is polluting, how much, and where. The era of vague commitments and unchecked greenwashing just got a powerful new opponent.
Climate TRACE’s January 2025 update shows global emissions totaled 5.26 billion tonnes CO₂e, a modest yet significant 0.59% drop compared to January 2024. Methane, an especially potent greenhouse gas, remained stable at roughly 32.24 million tonnes, hinting that the global emissions curve might finally be starting to flatten.
From Static Reports to Live Dashboards with Climate Data
Historically, global emissions data has suffered from delays of one to two years—far too late for effective action. Managing climate policy with outdated data is akin to managing a financial portfolio using last year’s market prices. Investors wouldn’t tolerate that. Why should we accept it for the planet?
Climate TRACE transforms this outdated approach. Its advanced network monitors over 660 million emission sources worldwide, including power plants, factories, farms, and shipping vessels. AI-powered algorithms analyze satellite heat signatures, spectral imagery, and operational data, providing accurate monthly updates. The Climate TRACE coalition uses cross-referenced satellite imagery, machine learning algorithms, and independent validation with ground-based data sources to ensure accuracy. While not perfect, the methodology represents a major leap beyond self-reported inventories. This emissions inventory’s accuracy is akin to quarterly financial reports, transforming climate tracking from guesswork into rigorous accounting.
Sector-by-Sector Insights
The January 2025 breakdown reveals where emissions are beginning to bend and where momentum is still missing. Greenhouse gas emissions increased year over year in waste and manufacturing and decreased in transportation, power, and fossil fuel operations. Transportation saw the greatest change in emissions year over year, with emissions decreasing by 1.6%
Nations and Cities in Real-Time Competition
The data doesn’t just show sectors—it also reveals national performance, turning global emissions into a monthly scoreboard that clearly tracks year-over-year changes (as shown below, comparing January 2025 with January 2024;
- China: -1.1% (a reduction of 17.4 million tonnes CO₂e)
- USA: -0.28%
- India: -0.03%
- Russia: -0.18%
- EU bloc: -0.53%
China’s absolute reduction stands out as particularly notable. At the city level, Dortmund (Germany) and Pohang-si (South Korea) led significant cuts, while emissions in Ma’anshan and Anshan (China) rose notably.
Just as financial markets watch national GDP, inflation, and employment closely, we can now track emissions monthly, providing continuous incentives for improvement.
Financial Markets Thrive on Timely Data—Now Climate Action Can Too
Financial markets rely on speed, transparency, and precision. Quarterly reports delayed by years would be absurd. Now, climate policy can finally mirror this urgency. Real-time emissions data allows investors to evaluate companies based on actual performance, not public relations. Regulators can pinpoint precise interventions, and cities can compete on measurable impacts, not vague promises.
A Planetary MRI
Climate TRACE’s latest dataset refines tracking across key sectors, adds monitoring for 918 shipping ports, and distinguishes fossil from biogenic methane using IPCC guidelines. Moreover, the entire dataset is open-source, inviting journalists, researchers, policymakers, and citizens alike to hold polluters accountable.
A New Era for Climate Data—But Will It Be Allowed?
This unprecedented level of transparency promises a sea change in climate accountability—empowering real-time decision-making, sharpening risk assessments, and helping the world act with the precision this crisis demands. Climate TRACE gives actuaries, insurers, regulators, and investors something they’ve never had before: verified, independent data updated every month. As I wrote earlier this year in ‘50% GDP Collapse Ahead?‘, actuaries warn that unchecked climate risk could halve the global economy within decades. This data may be our last, best shot at changing course.
But with great clarity comes great resistance
The current U.S. administration has shown open hostility toward climate science. Plans to cancel the lease for Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory—a cornerstone of atmospheric CO₂ monitoring for over 60 years—were confirmed by recent reporting from Reuters and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. EPA budget proposals, criticized by over 1,900 scientists in an open letter published by The Guardian, threaten to dismantle environmental protections across the U.S.
Climate TRACE’s open-source, satellite-driven data doesn’t just inform, it disrupts. It exposes the emitters. It reveals the truth behind the promises. And it turns delay into a choice, not an excuse.
But not everyone welcomes this kind of radical transparency. In fact, some would rather we stayed blind.
Will it be allowed to thrive? Or will vested interests—political and industrial—try to suppress it before it reshapes the system?
Because make no mistake: this data is power. And in the wrong hands—or kept out of public reach—it’s a power we could lose.
If this data disappears, so does our ability to act before disaster strikes.
Today’s near-real-time emissions tracking relies on a constellation of satellites, sensors, and AI models—many of which are controlled by governments or private entities. If access is cut off, censored, or restricted, we lose the transparency needed to hold polluters accountable. Without it, climate policy risks sliding back into the dark ages of delay, distraction, and disaster.
The international community must defend it. Not just as a breakthrough in climate science but as a safeguard for truth in a time of disinformation. Because without it, we lose our clearest signal and our strongest leverage. The world must remain vigilant to ensure this powerful new tool isn’t silenced.
Real-Time Climate Data Has the Power to Reshape Global Climate Policy
The availability of real-time climate data marks a decisive shift in how the world can respond to the climate crisis. No longer reliant on outdated, self-reported inventories, policymakers, investors, and regulators now have access to timely, independent emissions data—updated monthly, with sector-specific and geographic granularity.
What happens next will determine whether this breakthrough accelerates global climate progress—or whether it’s quietly sidelined before it can change the system.
Explore the full Climata Data dashboard at climatetrace.org.