Global CO2 emissions rise after the fall of the crown in 2020 – E24

Last year’s crown crisis caused the largest drop in global CO emissions since World War II, the IEA writes in a statement.

Global energy-related emissions fell to 31.5 billion tonnes of CO equivale equivalents in 2020, down six percent from the previous year, the Paris-based energy agency notes.

However, towards the end of the year emissions increased again. According to the IEA, energy-related emissions were two percent higher in December last year than in the same month last year. The background was that the economy recovered.

“The rise in global carbon emissions towards the end of last year is a strong warning that not enough is being done to accelerate the transition to clean energy globally,” IEA Director Fatih Birol said in a statement.

– If the government doesn’t make the right decisions quickly, this could threaten the world’s historic opportunity to make 2019 the final peak in global emissions, he says.

Believe that 2021 is crucial

Last year, the IEA called for a significant global investment in clean energy, but the numbers are clear. The use of fossil energy remains critical to driving global growth, and Birol recognizes this as well.

– Our figures show that we are again as emission-intensive as before. This year is crucial for international climate action, says Birol.

– These latest figures are a stark reminder of the enormous challenge we have to rapidly restructure the global energy system, he says.

Present plan

The IEA emphasizes that it is a great challenge to be able to limit emissions at the same time that the world wants economic growth and energy security.

In May, the agency present a plan on how the energy industry by 2050 can reduce its net emissions to zero. This will require a comprehensive and probably very costly restructuring of the global energy system, which is heavily reliant on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas.

More and more countries have made promises to reach net zero emissions by the middle of this century, but the evolution shows, according to the IEA, what can happen if this is not followed by swift action.

– If current expectations for an economic recovery this year are confirmed, and without major political changes in the world’s largest economies, global emissions are likely to rise in 2021, says Birol.

There were also large regional differences in the development of emissions last year. China’s climate emissions increased 0.8 percent in 2020 from the previous year. China was the first to ease its infection control measures after the crisis, and the only major economy to grow last year, the IEA notes. Emissions in the U.S. fell 10 percent in 2020.

However, Birol is somewhat more optimistic about global climate goals than before. It notes, among other things, that the United States has re-entered the Paris Agreement, that China has set itself a goal of net zero emissions in 2060 and that the EU continues with its ecological commitment through its so-called Green Deal.