Meeting the challenging target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) remains attainable but increasingly complex, according to a recent report. The Paris-based International Energy Agency, in its latest findings, highlighted the substantial growth in global solar energy capacity and electric vehicle sales as key factors keeping the pathway open to achieving emissions reduction goals.
Over the past two years, the expansion of solar energy production and electric vehicle adoption has been aligned with the objectives of curbing emissions, thereby maintaining the possibility of capping temperature rise at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The report emphasized the need for renewable energy capacity to triple by 2030, a significant uptick in electric vehicle sales to reach 70% of total vehicle sales (compared to the current 13%), and a 75% reduction in methane emissions from the energy sector. Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, has a short-term impact that is up to 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
The report also called for increased investments in climate action, with funding rising from $1.8 trillion in 2023 to an annual $4.5 trillion by the early 2030s.
While the report acknowledged the alarming pace of global climate change, it underscored the positive trends in the rapid expansion of clean energy sources, which have kept the door to achieving climate goals slightly ajar.
Solar power capacity, for instance, surged by nearly 50% in the past two years, and electric vehicle sales saw a remarkable increase of 240%. However, the report also raised concerns about persistently high carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector, primarily attributed to the continued reliance on coal, oil, and gas production.
The report pointed out that instead of decreasing, fossil fuel demand has risen, partly due to geopolitical factors like Russia’s actions in Ukraine and insufficient investments in clean energy supply chains.
Failing to enhance efforts to reduce emissions would heighten climate risks and necessitate a massive deployment of carbon removal technologies, which are costly and largely unproven on a large scale.
To avert this scenario, the International Energy Agency stressed that countries must significantly reduce emissions to recommended levels, with the aim of removing nearly five gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year in the latter half of this century. Experts emphasized that the time for action is now, with no room for complacency in the fight against climate change.
