The Global Carbon Budget and International Networking post-Paris

The Global Carbon Budget represents the balance of sources and sinks of carbon into the earth system. The planetary system naturally buffers against society's carbon dioxide emissions, reducing the effect of carbon dioxide emissions on the climate system by about one half. Every year, society emits about 40 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, not all this carbon remains in the atmosphere. The ocean takes up about 25% of the total emissions and the land takes up another 25%, with about half of the emissions remaining in the atmosphere and causing climate change. The global carbon cycle is in constant flux, with carbon dioxide emissions growing over time and the natural carbon sinks on the land and ocean impacted by a changing climate. To monitor how the global carbon cycle reacts over time, the Global Carbon Project (GCP) annually updates the Global Carbon Budget to track progress, identify key changes, and report on the implications for policy. In addition, the Global Carbon Projects updates the Global Carbon Atlas, a website to allow easy access and visualization of the underlying data. Both the budget and atlas were released during the UNFCCC climate conference in Marrakech and had a strong global media presence. The objective of this project was to support core activities and continue the development, publication, and communication of the Global Carbon Budget and Global Carbon Atlas. Continued development of the Global Carbon Budget elevated its relevance to ongoing climate negotiations post-Paris and for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Building on the Global Carbon Project and Future Earth scientific and stakeholder networks, this project further develop research agendas and host workshops on topics directly relevant for the Paris Agreement, notably emission pathways consistent with 1.5/2C and negative emissions. Importantly, the project gave Norway a stronger voice in global climate change research.

The Global Carbon Project (GCP) assists the international carbon community in providing objective scientific knowledge in support of the policy process to limit the growth of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. A key contribution of the GCP is the annual publication of the Global Carbon Budget and the Global Carbon Atlas. The Budget and Atlas have become widely renowned and respected products providing credible scientific information to researchers, policy makers and civil society. The objective of this project is to support core activities and continue the development, publication, and communication of the Global Carbon Budget and Global Carbon Atlas. Continued development of the Global Carbon Budget will elevate its relevance to ongoing climate negotiations post-Paris and for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Building on the Global Carbon Project and Future Earth scientific and stakeholder networks, this project will further develop research agendas and host workshops on topics directly relevant for the Paris Agreement, notably emission pathways consistent with 1.5/2C and negative emissions. Importantly, the project will give Norway a stronger voice in global change research.