[1] Global Energy Monitor was founded in 2007 by writer and environmentalist Ted Nace.
Originally named "Coalswarm", and affiliated with Earth Island Institute, the organization created a tracker database of global coal-fired power stations that became "widely respected" by academic researchers, media outlets, and governments.
[2] In 2018, GEM became an independent organization and expanded coverage to include natural gas pipelines, steel plants, coal mines, oil and gas extraction sites and renewable energy infrastructures.
[3] 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, International Energy Agency, Rystad Energy, Oxfam, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Mercator Research Center, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Pembina Institute, Rocky Mountain Institute, Urgewald, World Wide Fund for Nature, Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), and International Center for Climate Governance (ICCG), among others.