Recent reports have revealed that banks pumped more than $150 billion (£124bn) into companies with “carbon bomb” projects that could destroy humanity’s last chance to stop the climate crisis in the past year.
The Guardian shared that these carbon bombs, which comprise 425 extraction projects, hold enough coal, oil, and gas to burn through the world’s carbon budget four times over.
Despite that, between 2016 and 2022, banks across the US, Europe, and China have handed $1.8 trillion (around £1.5tn) in financing to the companies behind them.
But what exactly are carbon bombs, how do these projects impact the environment, and what are some of the examples of carbon bombs? We take a look.
What is a carbon bomb?
Carbon bombs are the single biggest sources of fuels that release planet-heating gases when burned.
They are fossil-fuel projects that are planned or in operation, and release more than one gigaton of carbon dioxide emissions over their span.
To get an idea of just how much carbon dioxide that is: a gigaton equates to a single passenger taking a billion flights between Paris and New York.
What impact do carbon bomb projects have?
Together, the current oil, gas, and coal carbon bombs outdo the world’s total remaining carbon budget that was set in the Paris Agreement, which aims to get ahead of global warming.
Surpassing the carbon budget would have catastrophic global impacts, triggering the planet to heat further, and have a devastating impact on communities and countries across the globe.
This would cause extreme weather conditions to become more volatile, threatening both human and non-human life on Earth.
Examples of carbon bombs
There are reported to be around 425 carbon bomb projects that are either planned or are currently ongoing.
One example is the Ghawar Field in eastern Saudi Arabia, which is the largest onshore oil field in the world with 48 billion barrels of oil.
Owned and run by a state-owned company named Saudi Aramco, the field has produced nearly half the nation’s total oil production since it started operating back in 1951. It is capable of pumping up to 3.8 million barrels of oil per day, which can equate to 10.2 gigatons of carbon-dioxide emissions.
Another carbon bomb example would be the world’s largest proposed coal mine in southern Mongolia’s Gobi Desert area.
The Tavan Talgoi Coal Mine run by a state-owned company claims that it contains at least 6.5 billion tons of coal.
If the plans go ahead successfully and the mien becomes operational, it could potentially release 16.0 gigatons of carbon-dioxide emissions.
