Climate Week 2023: Policymakers and the Value of Data and Transparency

At Climate Week New York 2023, Carbon Tracker and Confluence Philanthropy present "Policymakers and the Value of Data and Transparency." Policymakers and regulators are increasingly highlighting the value of independent data in climate and energy decision-making. The need to improve transparency and accountability was one of the key recommendations in last year’s UN High-Level Expert Group on Net-Zero.

Comprehensive data on fossil fuel production is also a growing area of scrutiny, given that oil, gas and coal are responsible for over 75 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and that the Paris climate framework makes no mention whatsoever of fossil fuels (with production and usage seemingly continuing unchecked since the Paris Agreement of 2015). No COP communique referenced fossil fuels until COP26 in Glasgow in 2021; even then, the reference was watered down to mention only coal and fossil fuel subsidies.

The challenge of phasing out fossil fuels to keep us within dangerous warming limits will however be very much on the agenda of COP28 in Dubai at the end of this year. Against this background – and foregrounded by the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Ambition Summit – an event during New York Climate Action Week which focuses on energy and climate data and transparency, and its value to policymakers and other stakeholders will be timely.

NRGI's Patrick Heller will moderate the event's 9:25 a.m. policymaker panel, asking "How can public access data inform effective public policy decision-making?" and "Do governments and businesses need to be made more accountable for their fossil fuel production and related policies?" Speakers include David Carlin of UNEP-FI and Climate Active's Andrew Jones.