What’s Needed to Reach Net-Zero This Century, According to the IEA
Renewable energy deployment has to triple from the record hit in 2022 by 2030, while electric cars need to start selling much faster.
A pedestrian covers her face with a scarf while walking along a road shrouded in smog in Beijing.
BloombergClean energy has become so inexpensive, and climate policy aspirations so common, that together they can potentially lower projected global warming to 1.7C above pre-industrial levels in 2100, according to the International Energy Agency.
In a research note published Thursday, the IEA stressed that time is running out to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Despite a temporary drop at the height of the pandemic in 2020, global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions rose to a record high of 36.8 billion metric tons in 2022, it said.
“The window to a credible pathway towards limiting warming to 1.5C in 2100 is therefore rapidly closing,” the authors wrote, referring to the Paris Agreement’s stretch goal for containing global temperature rise.
The report’s release coincides with the Major Economies Forum in Washington, which will be attended by countries responsible for 80% of global gross domestic product and greenhouse gas emissions. US President Joe Biden used the platform to drum up ambition for more aggressive pollution cuts and more finance to help developing countries build clean infrastructure.
Listen to an interview with IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol about when global emissions will peak on Bloomberg Green's Zero podcast.