Carbon emissions are set to rise up until 2040 even if governments meet their existing environmental targets, the International Energy Agency has warned, providing a stark reminder of the drastic changes needed to alleviate the world’s climate crisis.
The report noted the world’s reliance on fossil fuels remained “stubbornly high”, with a “gap between expectations of fast, renewables-driven energy transitions and the reality of today’s energy systems”. Energy use accounts for almost all global carbon dioxide emissions and about two-thirds of all greenhouse gases.
Carbon emissions, mostly caused by the burning of hydrocarbons such as oil and coal, trap heat in the atmosphere, which leads to climate change. These emissions grew 44 per cent between 2000-2018 to 33.2Gt. Over the same period, global energy demand - of which fossil fuels made up 80 per cent - increased 42 per cent.