Limiting global warming to 1.5 °C remains possible due to record growth in clean energy technologies, says a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Since 2021, record growth in solar power capacity and electric car sales are in line with a pathway towards net zero emissions globally by mid-century, as are industry plans for the roll-out of new manufacturing capacity for them.
The two technologies alone deliver one-third of the emissions reductions between today and 2030 in the pathway, argued IEA.
“Keeping alive the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C requires the world to come together quickly,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol.
“The good news is we know what we need to do – and how to do it,” he continued.
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In the new roadmap, the IEA has stated global renewable power capacity triples by 2030. Meanwhile, the annual rate of energy efficiency improvements doubles, sales of electric vehicles and heat pumps rise sharply, and energy sector methane emissions fall by 75%.
This could lead to more than 80% of the reductions needed by the end of 2030.
Fossil fuel demand would also need to decrease by 25% by the end of the decade, reducing emissions by 35% from a peak in 2022.
“Strong international cooperation is crucial to success. Governments need to separate climate from geopolitics, given the scale of the challenge at hand,” Birol added.
Field technical director Chris Wickins said the IEA “hit the nail on the head” with its new roadmap.
“Spending on renewables has continued to grow and is commonplace now, but we still need more on it,” he added.
The report comes less than a week after prime minister Rishi Sunak’s U-turns on green policies and days after scrapping the home energy efficiency taskforce.
Greenpeace UK senior climate campaigner Charlie Kronick said Sunak is “out of touch with expert advice.”
“The world’s leading energy experts say we must move faster to get off dirty fossil fuels but the prime minister is rolling back energy efficiency measures and putting up barriers to clean energy that would lower our bills, all while promising to ‘max out’ North Sea oil reserves,” Kronick added.
