A double penalty: if it does not invest more massively and rapidly in clean energies, the world will suffer from global warming, but also from “turbulence” in terms of supply, warned the International Energy Agency (IEA). This one launches, Wednesday, October 13, “serious warnings to the direction the world is taking”, in its annual report published two weeks before the opening of the UN COP26 in Glasgow. “The transition is too slow”, she worries.
Batteries, hydrogen, electric vehicles … All these sectors are countered by “the resistance of the status quo and fossil fuels”, while oil, gas and coal still make up 80% of final energy consumption, generating three quarters of climate change, the report notes.
Investments in low-carbon energy projects will have to triple within ten years, for carbon neutrality by 2050.
Fatih Birol, Director of the International Energy Agency
IEA Director Fatih Birol calls on leaders at COP26 to “do their part by making the 2020s the decade of the massive deployment of carbon-free energies”. He assures him: “a new energy economy is emerging, with the potential to create millions of jobs”. Gold, “We are not investing enough to meet future needs, and these uncertainties are preparing us for a volatile period. The way to respond is clear: invest massively and quickly in clean energy”, he continues.
While the Covid crisis has halted the progress of electrification, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, the financing of emerging countries is a key issue, when they must equip themselves while in particular avoiding coal-fired power stations. Now, ladditional funding needed “are less heavy than they appear”, she adds: 40% of emission reductions “pay for themselves”, through energy efficiency, the fight against methane leaks or solar or wind farms where these technologies are already the most competitive, writes the IEA.
The organization recalls that it is imperative to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 in order to limit the rise in average temperatures in the world to 1.5 ° C compared to the pre-industrial era. That “will require major efforts but offer considerable health benefits such as economic development”, says the IEA, while the current general investment deficit affects not only the climate but also prices and supply.
Without this global strategic shift, “the risk of destabilizing volatility will only increase over time”, adds the report, which stresses the importance of a transition “affordable for all citizens”.
