Climate Trace

What it does

Climate Trace is a nonprofit coalition that uses AI and satellite data to independently track greenhouse gas emissions at the facility and asset level globally - providing estimates for over 350 million individual sources including power plants, oil and gas facilities, ships, steel mills, and landfills without relying on self-reported government data. AI capabilities include machine learning models estimating methane and CO2 from satellite observations, computer vision identifying and classifying emissions sources from imagery, and AI data fusion combining multiple remote sensing streams for facility-level estimates. Climate Trace's data is publicly available and used by governments, corporations, investors, and journalists to independently verify reported emissions claims.

Strengths

• Companies seeking independent emissions verification and supply chain emissions intelligence use Climate Trace data for Scope 3 reporting - AI satellite estimates providing objective facility-level data for high-emission suppliers.
• Global corporations and investors use Climate Trace for independent emissions intelligence - AI-derived facility data supplementing self-reported emissions for supply chain due diligence.
• Climate Trace is a nonprofit coalition that uses AI and satellite data to independently track greenhouse gas emissions at the facility and asset level globally - providing estimates for over 350 million individual sources including power plants, oil and gas facilities, ships, steel mills, and landfills without relying on self-reported government data.

Watch-outs

• Estimation uncertainty at facility level: Satellite-derived emission estimates have uncertainty ranges that vary by source type and location — users should understand confidence intervals before using for regulatory filings.
• Not a replacement for corporate ESG reporting: Climate Trace provides third-party emissions estimates but does not replace the comprehensive corporate emissions inventory that regulations and investor frameworks require.
• Coverage and accuracy improve over time: Satellite-based emissions estimation is improving rapidly but coverage and accuracy vary by sector and geography.

Pricing

Climate Trace data is publicly available free at climatetrace.org. API access for commercial applications may have licensing requirements. Nonprofit-operated and grant-funded.