Greenhouse Gas Emission Data - Public, Difficult to Access, and Not Always Correct

Explore the challenges and inconsistencies in accessing publicly available greenhouse gas emission data in this 39-minute conference talk from 39C3. Learn about the significant barriers that make it unnecessarily difficult to obtain transparency about climate pollution sources, including problematic UN web interfaces, barely usable database frontends, and "security firewalls" that prevent easy data downloads. Discover how to work with official EU and international emission datasets despite their accessibility issues, and examine concerning data quality problems such as factories showing impossible emission drops without explanation and conflicting numbers between official sources. Gain practical knowledge on converting these often Excel-based datasets into more manageable SQL tables for easier analysis. Understand the broader implications of poor data accessibility and quality control in climate reporting, including how responsible European and national authorities often seem indifferent to obvious data flaws. The presentation provides both technical solutions for data access and critical analysis of systemic issues in greenhouse gas emission reporting that hinder effective climate transparency and accountability.