Investment in clean energy must triple to neutralize emissions, agency says – 10/13/2021 – Market

The International Energy Agency (IEA) warned on Wednesday (13) that the transition to clean energy is “too slow” and called for more investment in renewables to prevent further climate change and disruption in the energy market.

Two weeks before the opening of the meeting COP26 UN Climate Summit and in full High electricity prices in EuropeIn its annual report, the agency provides “serious warnings about the direction the world is heading” on this issue.

The OECD report acknowledges the emergence of a new economy for batteries, hydrogen or electric cars, but this progress is offset by “resistance to the status quo and fossil energy”.

“Progress in clean energy is too slow to put global emissions into a sustainable decline to zero by 2050, which would allow Keep the global warming below +1.5°C‘, says the agency.

The report adds that oil, gas and coal still account for 80% of the total amount of energy consumed, and are also responsible for 75% of climate imbalances.

So far, the climate commitments announced by countries, if met, will allow to reach by 2030 only 20% of the total reduction in greenhouse gas emissions needed to keep warming under control.

“Investments in carbon-neutral energy projects must triple within ten years [alcançar] “Carbon neutrality by 2050,” said Fatih Birol, director of the International Energy Agency.

As the Covid-19 crisis has slowed progress in electrification, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, funding from emerging countries is key so that they can equip themselves to avoid coal plants.

risk of disturbance

The agency presents three scenarios for the future.

In the first, countries continue as they are today: clean energy is being developed, but the increase in demand and Heavy industry maintains current emission levels.

In this case, heating may reach + 2.6 ° C compared to the pre-industrial era, far from + 1.5 ° C which guarantees a controllable climatic effect.

In the second scenario, countries meet their commitments, and more than 50 of them, including those in the European Union, achieve carbon neutrality. In this case, the demand for fossil fuels will reach a maximum in 2025, and the temperature increase will be + 2.1 ° C.

The third option, the only one that does not exceed + 1.5 ° C, is global carbon neutrality. This “will require more effort, but provide significant benefits to health and economic development,” the International Energy Agency says.

The additional funding, he adds, is “less important than it seems”.

Nearly 40% of the cuts are “self-financed” through energy efficiency, through methane seepage control, or via solar or wind power collectors, where the technology is more competitive.

The IEA also highlights that the current public investment deficit affects not only climate, but also prices and supply. This picture predicts more “turmoil” in the market, because the supply of clean energy does not meet the increase in demand.

“It anticipates the risks of more severe disruptions to global energy markets,” Birol highlights.

“We’re not investing enough to meet future needs, and this uncertainty prepares us for a volatile period. The way to respond is clear: invest, massively and quickly, in clean energy to meet short- and long-term needs.” .

Otherwise, “the risks of destabilizing instability will increase over time,” says the report, which insists the importance of transition “is within the reach of all citizens.”

That’s why Birol urges COP26 leaders in Glasgow “to work to make the 2020s a decade of large-scale decarbonized energy, a market that has the potential to create millions of jobs”.