A new energy economy is emerging around the world as solar, wind, electric vehicles and other low-carbon technologies flourish. But as the pivotal moment of COP26 approaches, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) new World Energy Outlook makes it clear that this clean energy progress is still far too slow to put global emissions into sustained decline towards net zero, highlighting the need for an unmistakable signal of ambition and action from governments in Glasgow.
The World Energy Outlook 2021 is designed as a handbook for the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, which offers a critical opportunity to accelerate climate action and the clean energy transition. The new analysis delivers stark warnings about the direction in which today’s policy settings are taking the world. But it also provides a clear-headed analysis of how to move in a well-managed way towards a pathway that would have a good chance of limiting global warming to 1.5°C and avoiding the worst effects of climate change.
“The world’s hugely encouraging clean energy-momentum is running up against the stubborn incumbency of fossil fuels in our energy systems,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA Executive Director. “Governments need to resolve this at COP26 by giving a clear and unmistakable signal that they are committed to rapidly scaling up the clean and resilient technologies of the future. The social and economic benefits of accelerating clean energy transitions are huge, and the costs of inaction are immense.”
Read the full report here.
