Global Energy Monitor (GEM) is a

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

–based

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

which catalogs

fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geolog ...

and renewable energy projects worldwide. GEM shares information in support of

clean energy Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the environment, the economy, and s ...

and its data and reports on energy trends are widely cited by governments, media, and academic researchers.

History

Global Energy Monitor was founded in 2007 by writer and environmentalist

Ted Nace Ted Nace (born 1956) is an American writer, publisher, and environmentalist, known for his criticisms of corporate personhood and his support of a fossil fuel phase out. In 2009, he was described as "one of the amazing brains and strategists b ...

. Originally named "Coalswarm", and affiliated with

Earth Island Institute The Earth Island Institute is a non-profit environmental group founded in 1982 by David Brower. Located in Berkeley, California, it supports activism around environmental issues through fiscal sponsorship that provides the administrative and or ...

, the organization created a tracker database of global coal-fired power stations that became "widely respected" by academic researchers, media outlets, and governments. In 2018, GEM became an independent organization and expanded coverage to include natural gas pipelines, steel plants,

coal mines Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

, oil and gas extraction sites and renewable energy infrastructures.

Research

Global Energy Monitor produces information about energy infrastructures through datasets, maps, and online profiles of specific energy projects housed on its GEM.Wiki platform. The model has been commended for improving transparency and accuracy for climate governance. GEM's data has several thousand users worldwide, including governments, international agencies, commercial and non profit organizations, academics, universities, and media outlets. This includes the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to "provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies". The World Met ...

International Energy Agency The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization, established in 1974, that provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the global energy sector. The 31 member countries and 13 associatio ...

, Rystad Energy,

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...

Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a United States–based 501(c)(3) non-profit international environmental advocacy group, with its headquarters in New York City and offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicag ...

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of grassroots environmental organizations in 73 countries. About half of the member groups call themselves "Friends of the Earth" in their own languages; the others use other ...

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA),

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

, Mercator Research Center,

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK, ) is a German government-funded research institute addressing crucial scientific questions in the fields of global change, climate impacts, and sustainable development. Ranked among the to ...

, Pembina Institute,

Rocky Mountain Institute RMI, or Rocky Mountain Institute, is a global, independent, non-partisan non-profit organization co-founded in the United States by Amory Lovins. As of 2025, RMI's stated mission is to transform "global energy systems through market-driven solut ...

Urgewald Urgewald is a group that researches coal companies, because they are among the top contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and so cause climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase i ...

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named th ...

, Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), and International Center for Climate Governance (ICCG), among others.

List of trackers

* Global Cement and Concrete Tracker * Global Coal Plant Tracker – Global Coal Plant Tracker documents existing, proposed, cancelled, and retired coal-fired power plants worldwide. * Global Coal Mine Tracker – Global Coal Mine Tracker documents existing, proposed, cancelled, and closed coal mines and projects worldwide. * Global Coal Project Finance Tracker – Global Coal Finance Tracker surveys the financial institutions, both publicly and privately owned, that have provided funding for coal-fired power stations since 2010. * Global Integrated Power Tracker * Global Iron and Steel Tracker * Global Iron Ore Mines Tracker * Global Energy Transition Tracker * Global Energy Ownership Tracker * Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker – Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker aggregates information on gas projects such as pipelines and terminals. Provides link to associated report. * Global Oil Infrastructure Tracker * Global Oil and Gas Extraction Tracker * Global Coal Terminals Tracker * Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker * Global Solar Power Tracker * Global Wind Power Tracker * Global Bioenergy Power Tracker * Global Geothermal Power Tracker * Global Nuclear Power Tracker * Global Hydropower Tracker * Global Methane Emitters Tracker * Europe Gas Tracker – Europe Gas Tracker is a comprehensive dataset of fossil gas infrastructure across the European Union. * Asia Gas Tracker * Africa Energy Tracker * Portal Energético para América Latina

References

*
Global Coal Plant Tracker

Global Gas Plant Tracker

Global Coal Mine Tracker

Global Coal Finance Tracker

Global Oil Infrastructure Tracker

Global Steel Plant Tracker

Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker

Europe Gas Tracker
{{Portal bar, Society, Environment, Climate change Fossil fuels Energy research institutes Non-profit organizations based in San Francisco 501(c)(3) organizations

History

Research

List of trackers

See also

References

Further reading

Major reports

Other reading

External links