Carbon Tracker Initiative

History

In 2007, the Carbon Tracker Initiative was founded after a paper was published on the idea of unburned carbon. ¹ The initial article and what became the Carbon Tracker Initiative attempted to shift companies’ investments away from higher-carbon investments and toward weather-dependent energy. ¹ In 2011, Carbon Tracker published a report on unburnable carbon and argued investing in companies that emitted large amounts of carbons was both environmentally harmful and financially risky. It labeled these investments the “carbon bubble.” ²

In 2013, Carbon Tracker Initiative quantified what it deems “stranded assets” in oil and coal companies, arguing that initial economic investment in this market sector will depreciate due to policy changes to renewable energy, climate disasters, or changes in costs and prices. ³ In 2015, Carbon Tracker released a report advocating linking capital investments to environmentalist policy. ⁴ Carbon Tracker Initiative has offices in London and New York City. ⁵

Positions

Carbon Tracker Initiative argues for reducing carbon emissions to an amount predicted to raise global temperatures by two degrees Celsius. ⁶ Carbon Tracker states that current business models will result in unsustainable global warming. ⁴ It argues that markets are failing to align capital investment allocation in weather-dependent energy, exposing companies and shareholders to potential lost value. ⁶

Carbon Tracker Initiative has called for greenhouse gas emissions to fall dramatically to avoid global warming. ⁴ Carbon Tracker produces research examining potential rises and falls of greenhouse gases and the impact of future fossil fuel emissions. ⁴ Carbon Tracker’s research argues against investment in what it deems risky investments in fossil fuel-reliant industries. ⁴ As a result of reports by Carbon Tracker Initiative, companies including Shell and Exxon have canceled projects due to shareholder resolutions that resulted from Carbon Tracker’s agenda. ¹

Carbon Tracker Initiative proposes financial system regulatory reforms to include required disclosures of climate-related financial risks. ⁴ Carbon Tracker states that companies have not sufficiently factored in the possibility that future demand could be reduced by policy changes and technological advancements. ⁶ It claimed credit through its research for a proposed 2022 Securities and Exchange Commission regulation requiring companies to disclose climate risks to investors. ⁷

Carbon Tracker Initiative publishes research on energy sectors including coal and natural gas and provides company profiles on fossil fuel consumption available to members. ⁸ Carbon Tracker produces research on carbon budgets, unburnable carbon, the carbon bubble, and stranded assets. ⁹

Partners

Carbon Tracker Initiative lists partnering on research and projects with Green Finance Platform, Reuters Events, Powering Past Coal Alliance, Inevitable Policy Response, and Energy Transition Advisors. ¹⁰ In 2022, Carbon Tracker partnered with Global Energy Monitor to release a global registry of conventional fuels. ¹¹

Finances

In 2020, the Carbon Tracker Initiative had net assets of $501,031. ¹² According to the organization’s tax returns, in 2018 Carbon Tracker Initiative recorded $1,127,855 in revenue and $763,862 in expenses. ¹² In 2019, the Carbon Tracker Initiative raised $742,695 in revenue and $610,531 in expenses. ¹³

Leadership

Robert Schuwerk has been executive director of Carbon Tracker Initiative North America since 2014. ¹⁴ Schuwerk worked as an assistant attorney general in the Office of the New York Attorney General from 2011 until 2014. ¹⁴ From 2006 through 2011, Schuwerk was an associate with the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. ¹⁴ Schuwerk has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago and a law degree from Yale Law School. ¹⁴