IEA: Keeping Warming Within 1.5°C Still Possible

It is still possible to keep global temperature increases within 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels: difficult, but not impossible. This is explained by the International Energy Agency (IEA), which published a report in May 2021 entitled “Net Zero Emissions by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector.” The roadmap provided a “narrow but viable” path to compliance with the Paris Agreement that established the need and desire to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.

“Much has changed since the report was published, in particular due to the global energy crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine,” the IEA said. “Carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector continued to rise, setting a new record in 2022. But there is also growing cause for optimism: the past two years have seen remarkable progress in the development and deployment of some key clean energy technologies.”

The rise of renewable energy and the spread of electric vehicles offer hope: these two factors alone could account for a third of the emissions reductions expected by 2030.

“The good news is that we know what to do and how to do it. Our Net Zero 2023 roadmap, based on the latest data and analysis, shows the way forward,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “But we also have a very clear message: strong international cooperation is the key to success. Governments must separate climate from geopolitics given the scale of the ongoing problem.”