Planet Data Enables Climate Transparency Through New Partnership with Climate TRACE

The transition to a low-carbon, climate-positive future will require innovation in almost every sector of the global economy, from energy, transport and agriculture to cities, finance, and land use. Achieving this transition will require independent, timely assessment of climate emissions, to guide policy and ensure industries, governments and organizations are held accountable for their progress.

That’s why Planet has partnered with Climate TRACE, a coalition of climate-focused NGOs, technology companies, and universities, supported by former Vice President Al Gore, that use cutting-edge technologies to identify and track human-caused greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with unprecedented detail and speed.

“Planet’s dataset is one of the most important for accelerating global emissions monitoring. We’re grateful to Planet for sharing their vast trove of data which has definitely enhanced our modeling, particularly by letting us examine emitting sources more times per month,” said Gavin McCormick, co-founder of WattTime and a founding member of the Climate TRACE coalition. 

Using satellite images, signals of GHG emissions can be extracted and monitored at their source. These images provide independent verification of emissions-related phenomena, allowing companies and governments around the world to monitor and quantify reductions. This data equips authorities with the information needed to take action and ensure that global entities are complying with regulations set for global power plants. 

“Today, much of our climate emissions data come from sources that are self-reported, incomplete, imprecise or out of date – and that limits their practical use,” said Andrew Zolli, Planet’s Vice President of Sustainability and Global Impact.  “Steering us toward a lower-carbon, more sustainable future requires trusted, real-time indicators that illuminate the behavior of climate-linked systems — and that’s exactly what Climate TRACE is producing with our data,” he added. 

By using machine learning, artificial intelligence, and satellite image processing, Climate TRACE creates critical tools that empower organizations to make intelligent and well-informed decisions related to the climate crisis. By tracking this information independently and publicly, the coalition allows these tools to be used by leaders in the private and public sectors alike and enables them to make strides in carbon reduction while driving sustainable strategies going forward. 

Stay tuned for more about how our data is supporting Climate TRACE and revealing insights for emissions tracking globally.