![]() The IEA has set out 400 milestones for governments to reach, including the phasing out of new fossil-fuel cars from 2035 and the decarbonisation of global electricity generation by 2040. Birol said that most of the rest of the global economy could be decarbonised using economical technologies that are already in widespread use, such as wind and solar power. These will be needed because some sectors are especially hard to decarbonise, such as steel and cement manufacturing, aviation and shipping, and those using heavy-duty road vehicles. The crucial new technologies in development are: advanced batteries, particularly for use in electric vehicles hydrogen and carbon capture. Innovation is critical, but the technologies are here with us.” He said: “These technologies are already invented, but not yet in full development. Since the climate responds to cumulative emissions rather than current emissions, if cuts to carbon are left to the future and not made in this decade, it will be too late to stay within the 1.5C limit.īirol made it clear that the technology needed to reach net zero is neither blue-sky nor futuristic. Climate experts including Michael Mann have become increasingly worried that some new critiques of climate action, such as the book published recently by the software billionaire Bill Gates, have focused too much on an idea that futuristic technologies will save the world from climate chaos, rather than focusing on what can be done today. John Kerry, the US climate envoy, caused controversy when he suggested at the weekend that half of the carbon reductions needed to reach net zero by 2050 would be made using new technology. ![]() “A huge part can be done with existing technologies, there are no problems there,” he said. Birol said about 5m jobs would be lost in sectors such as coal, but governments could do much to ease the transition.īirol said that the technology to halve emissions by 2030 was already available and must be rolled out even faster. The report found that these measures would create 30m new jobs, and add 0.4 percentage points a year to global GDP growth. That limit, beyond which scientists predict dire consequences from climate breakdown, is the aspirational goal of the 2015 Paris agreement, and will require greenhouse gas emissions to be halved this decade. Pledges made by governments in the run-up to the Cop26 UN climate talks, due to be held in Glasgow this November, are also inadequate and need to be strengthened if the world is to limit temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, he said. Last month, the IEA warned that emissions would leap by the second biggest rise on record, largely owing to a resurgence of coal following last year’s lockdowns. But if governments make commitments to net zero emissions, they should see what the implications are.” If governments are planning investments, it is up to them. “Our report does not ban anyone from anything. The UK is licensing new oil and gas fields in the North Sea, China is building coal-fired power plants, and oil companies are still investing in new output.īirol said they must reconsider. ![]() ![]() Few governments intend to halt fossil-fuel exploration. The IEA has released its most comprehensive report yet into what is needed to achieve the world’s climate goals, the implications of which will be felt around the world. He said strong new policies were needed from governments around the world: “More and more countries are coming up with net zero commitments, which is very good, but I see a huge and growing gap between the rhetoric and the reality.” Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director and one of the world’s foremost energy economists, told the Guardian: “If governments are serious about the climate crisis, there can be no new investments in oil, gas and coal, from now – from this year.”
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