Limiting global warming to 1.5C remains possible thanks to the record growth of green technologies in recent years, the International Energy Agency has reported.
Bolder action will be needed, however, the intergovernmental organisation said, with fossil fuel demand needing to fall by 25% by 2030 and new net zero targets needed.
“Staying on track means almost all countries must move forward their targeted net zero dates,” the IEA’s Net Zero Roadmap report said.
“It also hinges on mobilising a significant increase in investment.”
Come 2050, fossil fuel demand should be 80% lower than today, with new coal, oil and gas projects having become a thing of the past the group’s net zero scenario.
Global investment in clean energy will need to rise from US$1.8 trillion this year to US$4.5 trillion annually by the early 2030s.
“Strong international cooperation is crucial to success. Governments need to separate climate from geopolitics,” the report read.
Record growth in the adoption of solar power and sales of electric vehicles are indeed in line with what is needed to limit global warming, the report explained, offering a significant chunk of prospective future reductions in emissions.
“The pathway to 1.5C has narrowed in the past two years,” IEA boss Fatih Birol commented, “but clean energy technologies are keeping it open."