Carbon emissions will drop just 40% by 2050 with countries' current pledges [View all]

[The Fifty Stateman]

(This piece originally appeared in The Guardian. I am using this Grist repost because I am not registered with TG.)

Rob Davies
Oct 14, 2021

Current plans to cut global carbon emissions will fall 60 percent short of their 2050 net zero target, the International Energy Agency has said, as it urged leaders to use the upcoming COP26 climate conference to send an “unmistakable signal” with concrete policy plans.

In its annual World Energy Outlook, redesigned this year as a “guidebook” for world leaders attending the summit in Glasgow, the IEA predicted that carbon emissions would decrease by just 40 percent by the middle of the century if countries stick to their climate pledges.

The organization said the difference between current plans and the change necessary to reach the net zero target was “stark”, requiring up to $4 trillion in investment over the next decade alone to bridge the divide.

The IEA’s executive director Fatih Birol told the Guardian that major economies recovering from COVID-19 were already missing the opportunity to spur investment in clean energy.

“We are witnessing an unsustainable recovery from the pandemic,” he said, pointing to sections of the report that show coal use growing strongly, contributing to the second-largest increase in CO2 emissions in history.

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World "leaders" will take truly serious action when their children start spontaneously combusting before their eyes.