Climate Crisis: Unburnable Oil Resources Should Stay Underground to Meet Objectives of Paris Agreement [Study]

The climate crisis continues to be a global environmental issue of the 21^st century, wherein societies, ecosystems, and wildlife are threatened. Research in recent years shows that the global average temperature has drastically increased since the pre-industrial period. The crisis is accelerated by anthropogenic climate and global warming, which are mainly caused by greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel burning.

It has been nearly a decade since the creation of the 2015 Paris Agreement, a global initiative spearheaded by the United Nations that aims to mitigate the impact of the climate emergency. Also called the Paris Climate Agreement or the Paris Climate Accords, the initiative's main objective is to hold an increase of global average temperature below 2 degrees Celsius and limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

In the context of climate change, a study earlier in March 2024 suggests that "unburnable oil" resources should stay underground. This proposal aims to limit the increase in global mean temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to a new study led by an international team of researchers from the Netherlands, Spain, and Ecuador. The objective can be achieved by reducing carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases.

Unburnable Oil Resources

In the study published in the journal Nature Communications on March 14, the international research team proposes that unburnable oil resources, consisting of 97%, 81%, and 71% of existing coal, gas, and oil should stay underground. The team specifies that these oil resources need to remain "unburned" to prevent the release of climate-damaging gases, which accelerates the natural process of the greenhouse effect.

According to the authors, their research article created a global atlas of unburnable oil by developing an integrated spatial assessment model based on estimates and locations of mainstream oil resources and socio-environmental criteria. The research paper's results show that different biodiversity hotspots, natural protected areas, urban areas, and others coincide with 609 gigabarrels of conventional oil resources.

In its conclusion, the study asserts that industries should not exploit most of the existing coal, gas, and oil energy resources worldwide. In the context of the current climate crisis, this proposed method not only assures the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions but also meets the requirements of the Paris Agreement.

2015 Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement is a "legally binding international treaty on climate change" involving member countries led by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It was initially created by 196 Parties during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, back in December 2015. In November 2016, the Paris Climate Agreement took effect since then.

In a news release in January 2024, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) stated that Earth's temperature has increased by an average of 0.11 degrees Celsius per decade since 1850. In addition, the 10 warmest years in recorded history all occurred over the past decade, particularly from 2014 to 2023. This is based on the NOAA's 2023 Annual Climate Report.