One of the top environmental and climate news: Green energy growth keeps 1.5°C chances alive!
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world’s chances of limiting global warming to 1.5°C have been boosted by record growth in clean energy. Solar power capacity and sales of electric cars are growing at unprecedented levels – a fact the IEA describes as “significant”, given that these two technologies could deliver a third of the emissions reductions needed this decade to put the world on track to reach net zero by 2050. But “bolder action” is still needed in the rest of the 2020s to keep the 1.5°C target alive, with clean energy spending needing to double by in the early 2030s, from $1.8 trillion a year to $4.5 trillion, the IEA says. “Staying on track means that almost all countries need to move ahead of their net zero target dates,” the IEA says.
Failure to boost clean energy fast enough by 2030 will create additional climate risks, the IEA says. This follows the world recording its hottest summer on record in 2023, as well as a string of fires, storms, floods and droughts around the world this year.
“Keeping alive the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires the world to come together quickly,” says IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “The good news is that we know what we need to do – and how to do it. But we also have a very clear message: strong international cooperation is crucial for success. Governments must separate climate from geopolitics, given the scale of the challenge at hand.”
