Tool: Google Environmental Insights Explorer
Google’s Environmental Insights Explorer (EIE) is a free platform for cities and local governments to understand their main sources of greenhouse gasses (GHGs), and to identify areas of opportunity for emissions reduction and climate adaptation projects.
Specifications
| Suitable for which city climate journey stage? |
 Establishing an emissions baseline  Identifying specific sources of emissions  Tracking progress overtime |
| Tool strengths |
- Free access - Global coverage - Aligned with GPC - Annually refreshed and comprehensive mobility data - Provides transportation mode split data: trips via cycling, walking, and more - Provides globally consistent datasets usable in multiple formats, eg tabular formats that can be integrated into existing workflows - Cities are using EIE to: update their GHG emissions inventory and set carbon reduction goals; validate existing assumptions, data and baselines; develop sustainable mobility plans and encourage low-emission travel; improve uptake of solar energy; identify and improve extreme heat zones & ensure health equity; identify priority areas for tree planting. |
| Tool limitations | - Not aligned with the Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM) Common Reporting Framework (CRF) |
| Geographic location/countries | Global |
| Language | English, German, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (European), Hindi, Indonesian, Thai, French (European), Turkish, Danish, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Polish, Chinese (Traditional, Mandarin) |
| Accessibility | Free to use – requires City Sustainability Professionals to request access |
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Methodology
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EIE uses unique Google data sources and modelling capabilities to produce estimates of activity, emissions, and reduction opportunities. By surfacing environmental information in a robust platform free of charge, we aim to serve sustainability decision makers working on these issues and solutions for cities globally. The insights we offer are a modelled estimate based on actual measurements of activity and infrastructure, which is the same underlying information that is made available in Google Maps. Additionally, we use AI and advanced machine learning techniques to understand how people are moving around the world, and then apply scaling, efficiency, anonymization, and emissions factors, while applying region-specific assumptions from CURB: Climate Action for Urban Sustainability tool. In generating these estimates, EIE has worked with experts to make methodology choices, while acknowledging that cities may make different methodology choices that generate different results.
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| Documentation of methodology | https://insights.sustainability.google/methodology |
| Data quality/verified by 3rd party | Testing modelled transport data against actual road sensor counts in cities across 10 countries. The data is not verified by a third party. |
| Alignment with global standards and protocols (eg GPC and CRF ) | Aligned with the GPC |
| Emissions scopes | 1, 2, 3 |
| GHGs | CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, SF6, NF3 |
| Sectors included | Buildings and transportation (on-road, water-borne, rail) |
| Scopes, GHGs and sectors excluded | Sectors: transportation (aviation and off-road); waste; agriculture, forestry and land use (AFOLU); industrial processes and product use (IPPU). |
| Temporal resolution | Annual |
| Spatial resolution | City boundary, defined by Google Maps |
| Functionality for city to make adjustments | - Update distances travelled (km) - Update population data - Update emission factors - Update floor space (m2) - Update solar goals, capacity, carbon intensity and green jobs per MW City boundary updates can be made through direct contact with Google’s EIE team. |
| Latest accounting year | 2022 |
| Frequency of data updates | Annual |
| Units | Metric tonnes (t CO2e) |
| Using the tool, data outputs and how it can be exported | - To access data, City Sustainability Professionals and government employees must sign up via the EIE Homepage. - Users can download the data as a .csv file. - A small amount of data processing is needed to convert the raw transport data into the GPC or CRF format - Select which year data should be exported for. - Select the emissions scope the trips fall into, eg Scope 1, 2 or 3. - The energy performance data used to estimate emissions from building footprints is sourced from CURB and may vary from local energy use data. Cities may need to combine this data with emissions data for their other sectors to develop a full, comprehensive inventory. |
| Additional tool functionalities | Provides additional data on tree cover, rooftop solar potential, air quality (limited) avoided emissions estimates, co-benefits (job creation estimates) |