Although a new “global energy economy” is emerging, the energy transition is still too slow, says the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Energy Outlook 2021 report, published on Wednesday 13 October.
“Every data point showing the speed of change in energy can be countered by another showing the stubbornness of the status quo”, the report says.
According to the paper, public spending on sustainable energy in the post-Covid-19 economic stimulus packages has mobilised only about a third of the investment needed to put the energy system on a new track.
The IEA also estimates that if governments fully implement the climate commitments they have announced so far, global energy-related CO2 emissions will fall by 40% by 2050. Moreover, global warming would be +2.1°C in 2100 compared to pre-industrial levels.
“Despite progress, current climate pledges close less than 20% of the emissions gap between today’s policy settings and a Net Zero By 2050 path” (a scenario developed by the IEA —see EUROPE 12721/27), lamented the agency’s executive director, Fatih Birol.
See the report: https://bit.ly/3lCDtKT (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)