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The report 'Five Years Lost' details 12 major fossil fuel expansion projects globally, estimating they would collectively emit at least 175 gigatons of CO2, consuming up to 75% of the remaining carbon budget for a 66% probability of limiting warming to 1.5°C. It identifies a systemic failure in the finance industry, noting that between January 2016 and August 2020, financial institutions provided $1.6 trillion in loans and underwriting and $1.1 trillion in investments to 133 companies driving these projects. The document highlights the role of public finance, specifically Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) and Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) like the World Bank Group, in de-risking these projects. Case studies cover diverse regions including the Permian Basin (USA), Vaca Muerta (Argentina), and the Barents Sea (Norway), emphasizing the associated human rights abuses, environmental degradation, and the 'myth' of natural gas as a bridge fuel.

The document outlines the environmental and economic dangers of expanding liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure. It highlights that the LNG process is energy-intensive and prone to methane leaks, with US-sourced LNG potentially having a carbon footprint 28% higher than coal. Financially, the report warns of severe overcapacity in Europe, where import capacity may reach 400 billion m3 by 2030 despite a projected demand of only 150-190 billion m3, leading to a high risk of stranded assets in countries such as France, Germany, and Italy. It concludes that conversion to hydrogen or biomethane is largely technically and economically unfeasible, urging financial actors to cease all support for gas expansion.

The report challenges the narrative of fossil gas as a low-carbon transition fuel, detailing its high methane leakage rates and the severe ecological and health risks associated with hydraulic fracturing. It highlights that methane's high warming potential can make gas more harmful to the climate than coal if leakage exceeds 4%. Additionally, the document outlines the health consequences of gas combustion, including respiratory illnesses and millions of annual deaths globally, and calls for financial institutions to cease all support for gas expansion.

The report details the environmental and health risks of fossil gas, highlighting that methane leaks can make gas more harmful to the climate than coal. It specifically critiques shale gas for its high water consumption, chemical contamination, and carcinogenic emissions, while noting that gas combustion contributes to millions of deaths globally through air pollution. Reclaim Finance recommends that financial institutions cease all support for fossil gas expansion.

The document outlines the high energy consumption and methane leakage associated with the LNG value chain, highlighting that US-produced LNG can have a carbon footprint 28% higher than coal. It warns of significant financial risks, including the potential for LNG infrastructure to become stranded assets due to overcapacity, particularly in Europe where utilization rates are forecast to drop to 36% by 2030.

The report analyzes 40 low-carbon interventions in Mexico's electric power, oil and gas, energy end-use, transport, and agriculture and forestry sectors. It finds that implementing these measures could stabilize emissions at 2008 levels by 2030, avoiding approximately 477 Mt CO2e relative to a baseline scenario. Many of these interventions are 'no-regrets' options with positive economic returns, though their scale-up is hindered by institutional, regulatory, and financial barriers.

The Union of Concerned Scientists identifies a range of 153 to 353 coal-fired generating units in the U.S. that are economically uncompetitive and should be retired. These units, totaling up to 59 GW of capacity, are typically older, underutilized, and lack modern pollution controls. The report argues that retiring these units, alongside 288 already scheduled for closure, would not jeopardize grid reliability and could reduce annual CO2 emissions by 245 to 410 million tons if replaced by natural gas, renewables, or energy efficiency.

The document argues that reducing upstream methane leakage is critical for the U.S. to meet greenhouse gas emissions goals. It warns that LNG exports are likely to increase domestic emissions and proposes several policy interventions, including expanded Department of Energy research, updated emissions factors, and the implementation of a clean energy standard or carbon pricing.

The document proposes a two-step emissions target mechanism—periodic evaluation and triggered policy changes—to ensure a U.S. carbon tax meets national GHG goals. It suggests four types of trigger responses: automatic tax rate adjustments, increased government spending for emissions reduction, activating 'back-stop' regulations, or streamlined legislative modification. Additionally, it identifies three categories of complementary policies to enhance cost-effectiveness: support for low-carbon innovation (RDD&D), consumer energy savings incentives, and policies targeting 'uncovered' emissions or non-climate co-benefits.

The document argues that the potential emissions from reserves held by the 200 largest public fossil fuel companies (at least 1,541 GtCO2) significantly exceed the remaining global carbon budget for a 2°C temperature rise (986 GtCO2). It identifies a gap in current reporting, noting that financial standards focus on reserve size while GHG standards focus on historical emissions. To address this, the paper recommends a methodology using the Petroleum Resource Management System and the Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards to quantify reserves, adding internal fuel use and losses from flaring, venting, and fugitive activities, and excluding projected carbon storage from CCS projects.