EIA launches platform to preserve climate data

USA: The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has launched its own interactive, web-based mapping tool to visualise and analyse greenhouse gas data.

With the US EPA threatening to roll back Greenhouse Gas Reporting Programme, the EIA has stepped in to preserve critical historical US emissions data.

The Emissions Monitoring and Accountability Platform (EMAP) is designed to maintain the transparency and interactiveness of the GHGRP’s facility-level information while also providing additional emissions data, such as EIA’s independent investigations on chemical manufacturers’ unreported GHG emissions.

The EPA proposed a rule to sunset the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Programme in September last year. If finalised, this rulemaking would remove reporting obligations for most large facilities, all fuel and industrial gas suppliers, and CO2 injection sites.

The EIA maintains that the data is critical to inform policy makers, academia, and the public at large to better understand the scope of GHG emissions globally and the impact that these emissions have on vulnerable populations.

EMAP is designed to maintain the transparency and interactiveness of the GHGRP’s facility-level information while also providing additional emissions data, such as EIA’s independent investigations on chemical manufacturers’ unreported GHG emissions.

“Public emissions data is the backbone of climate accountability and foundational to informed decision-making, scientific integrity and community protection,” said Avipsa Mahapatra, EIA US climate campaign director. “With the GHGRP under threat, EMAP steps in to preserve critical historical US emissions data, and to push beyond industry self-reporting to reveal the true scale of climate pollution.” 

To that end, the EMAP platform will act as a depository of the historical GHG data reported to GHGRP, including the 2024 data – obtained through a freedom of information request. The EIA says it is ensuring this GHG data is preserved and continues to be readily available, particularly to states that rely on this data to inform their citizens. 

Additionally, EMAP is designed to integrate emissions data from sources other than self-reported data submitted by the industry, such as EIA investigations, to create a more complete picture of the climate impact. 

“In the absence of government action, it is our civic responsibility to preserve the historical GHGRP data,” said Julius Banks, former EPA chief of the GHGRP and current EIA US senior technical lead.

“We welcome collaboration with other civic-minded organisations, academia, governments, and industry to join us in this ongoing effort to quantify and publicly provide GHG emissions data to the general public,” he added.