When it comes to clean energy, we will have to do more, but above all, faster. The annual report of the International Energy Agency (IEA), published Tuesday September 26, suggests that to hope to respect the Paris agreement, the majority of countries will have to considerably advance their carbon neutrality objectives. This agreement, concluded in 2015, planned to limit global warming to 1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial era.
The time frame for action to achieve net zero energy emissions is shrinking. “Advanced economies”, such as the United States and the European Union, will have to bring forward their carbon neutrality objective by five years – from 2050 to 2045; and China, by ten years – from 2060 to 2050 –, estimated the IEA in its report.
To achieve carbon neutrality, the OECD energy agency recalls that the development of “clean energy” constitutes the main lever for complying with climate objectives. “The energy sector is evolving faster than many realize, but there is still much to do, and time is running out,” the agency said.
According to its updated scenario: “The development of clean energies is the main factor in the drop in demand for fossil fuels of more than 25% for this decade”, and the rise of these energies leads to a drop in CO2 emissions of 35 % by 2030.
“The path to [the target of] 1.5°C has narrowed over the past two years, but the growth of clean energy technologies keeps it open,” adds the IEA, which also calls for “ energy efficiency “.
COP28 in the viewfinder
This report comes just weeks ahead of crucial negotiations at the 28th United Nations Climate Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, scheduled for November 30 to December 12, 2023, where the future of energy fossils should give rise to fierce debates.
This is the update of its “Net Zero Roadmap”, a roadmap for carbon neutrality in 2050, the publication of which in 2021 had left its mark by calling on the world to abandon “now” any new oil or gas projects. gas.
“As COP28 approaches, the latest scientific data is unequivocal: the era of fossil fuels is coming to an end,” commented Laurence Tubiana, president of the European Climate Foundation.
The IEA recently claimed that demand for all fossil fuels – oil, gas and coal – will soon peak “in the next few years” of the decade, thanks to the surge in cleaner energy and electric cars.
