Speaker
Description
The Permian Delaware Tight, located in Texas (USA), is the largest carbon bomb on Earth. Carbon bombs are defined as 425 fossil fuel megaprojects, of which about 60% are already under exploitation. With potential emissions of 27.8 GtCO₂, the Permian Delaware Tight would release three-quarters of total annual global CO₂ emissions. Exploiting this single project would consume more than ten percent of the remaining global carbon budget for limiting global warming to 1.5 °C by the end of the century. Considering all carbon bombs, the cumulative potential emissions from these coal, gas, and oil fields exceed at least twice the remaining global carbon budget consistent with the Paris Agreement.
Within the Source2Suffering project, we develop a methodology to translate the greenhouse gas emissions of any project into lifetime climate impacts. Our modeling framework estimates—while explicitly accounting for uncertainty—the number of extreme events, such as heatwaves, droughts, or floods, that current and future generations are likely to experience as a result of these specific emissions. Crucially, the method also captures how these impacts vary not only across generations but also among populations in different countries, thereby reflecting unequal exposure to climate risks. This unequal exposure is represented in the model as the combined outcome of two factors: first, the physical dynamics of global warming, which generate disproportionately higher impacts in the Global South; and second, the demographic reality that the majority of the world’s population—including most future generations—resides in these regions.
| If your abstract is not accepted for an oral presentation, would you be interested in presenting it as a poster instead? | Yes |
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| If accepted by the Scientific Board, I agree to have my presentation/poster and abstract published on the Belgian Climate Centre websites and social media. | No |
