“The Environmental Insights Explorer analyzes Google Maps data to provide rich insights into the vital signs of our planet. These insights can be used to create carbon baselines and accelerate climate action plans…Climate change’s many environmental, social and economic impacts will continue to escalate if not enough is done to mitigate emissions. Right now, there’s no consistent, reliable data on carbon emissions, meaning we can’t tell where the hot spots are for the problem or what interventions are working. Google’s Environmental Insights Explorer is founded on the idea that data and technologies can help accelerate the actions, industries and investments that enable the world’s transition to a low-carbon future. By analyzing Google data, we’ve made city-specific environmental data accessible and useful for understanding a simple baseline greenhouse gas inventory and recognizing reduction opportunities. These are two important steps for city-level climate action planning and ultimately making project investments for a low-carbon future. Surfacing environmental information in a robust platform, we aim to serve commercial solutions and products and foster new research into the issues and solutions for cities globally. We know more accurate data may exist for some locations and methodologies and assumptions mean that the results can vary significantly. Over time, the calculations can improve. For now, taking action on climate change can’t wait, so we hope to accelerate the move from measurement to action…”