Global Carbon Project

New Capabilities

Publisher of annual Global Carbon Budget

For decades, scientists assumed forests and soils absorbed roughly 30% of humanity's carbon dioxide emissions. A major reassessment published in Nature in January 2026 shows they've been overestimating: the natural land carbon sink is 20% smaller than previously calculated. That's 0.6 billion tonnes of carbon per year staying in the atmosphere instead of being absorbed.

Updated May 27

Rule Changes

Warning US withdrawal undermines global climate efforts

On January 7, 2026, Trump signed a memorandum directing US withdrawal from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change—the 1992 treaty George H.W. Bush signed and the Senate unanimously ratified. The US is the first of 198 parties to exit. The UNFCCC underpins all international climate negotiations (unlike the Paris Agreement, which Trump also exited), and withdrawal takes effect one year from notification.

Updated May 19