Thread by @washingtonpost

Many countries undercount their greenhouse gas emissions in reports to the U.N., a Washington Post investigation of 196 country reports found.

There is a giant gap between what nations declare their emissions are versus the greenhouse gases they release. wapo.st/3H1p839

Many country reports are outdated, some U.N. information is incorrect and no countries take responsibility for emissions from international air travel and shipping.

The Post’s analysis accounts for these, finding a gap between 8.5 and 13.3 billion tons. wapo.st/3H1p839

At the low end, the gap is larger than the yearly emissions of the United States.

At the high end, it approaches the emissions of China and comprises 23 percent of humanity’s total contribution to the planet’s warming, The Post found. wapo.st/3H1p839

As tens of thousands of people convene for the #COP26 summit, many of the numbers they are using to help guide the world’s effort to curb greenhouse gases represent a flawed road map.

That means the challenge is even larger than world leaders have acknowledged.

A key area of controversy is that many countries attempt to offset emissions from fossil fuels by claiming that carbon is absorbed by land.

U.N. rules allow some countries to continue to release significant emissions while claiming to be “net zero.” wapo.st/3H1p839

In other words, much of the gap The Post found is driven by subtractions countries have made on their balance sheets.

And some of this carbon absorption isn’t even happening — at least not on the scale that countries assert. wapo.st/3H1p839

Malaysia released 422 million tons of greenhouse gases in 2016, placing it among the world’s top 25 emitters.

But because Malaysia claims its trees consume vast amounts of CO2, its reported emissions are just 81 million tons, less than those of Belgium. wapo.st/3H1p839

Nicholas Mujah Ason has seen both the cause and the effect of global warming: the sea of palm oil plantations surrounding him and the rain forest that never cools.

It’s now hard to say when summer begins because it’s hot year-round — and the heat stings. wapo.st/3H1p839

The Paris Agreement calls for a more transparent system by 2024, but it could take until 2030 — an eternity compared with the tight timeframe the world needs.

The world has already warmed at least 1.1 degrees Celsius compared with preindustrial levels. wapo.st/3H1p839

The plan to save the world from the worst of climate change is built on data.

But the data the world is relying on is inaccurate. wapo.st/3H1p839