According to the International Energy Agency, carbon dioxide emissions increased by 0.9 percent last year. According to the organization, the growth was lower than feared.
Carbon dioxide emissions from energy production have once again reached a new record.
This is according to the International Energy Agency From the IEA’s recent report (you will switch to another service).
Emissions increased by 0.9 percent last year and now total 36.8 gigatons. It is the highest figure in the measurement history.
Despite the fact that many countries switched to using oil instead of natural gas as a result of the war in Ukraine, emissions did not increase as much as the IEA predicted.
The rapid growth in the use of renewable energy helped in this matter. According to the IEA, up to 90 percent of the growth in electricity production came from renewable energy sources.
The lower-than-forecasted growth was also influenced by China’s weaker economic situation than before. Modest economic growth and traffic emissions reduced by corona lockdowns drove China’s total emissions to be lower than the previous year.
The increase in emissions must be brought to an end
The continued growth of emissions is worrying in terms of the world’s climate goals.
According to the scientific panel IPCC, the world’s climate emissions should be halved during the 2020s so that the limit of 1.5 degrees of global warming is not exceeded at the end of the century.
Many countries are aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050. Finland has announced its intention to achieve carbon neutrality as early as 2035.
– Emissions from the use of fossil fuels continue to grow, and this makes it difficult to achieve climate goals, IEA Director General Fatih Biril said at the launch of the report.
According to the IEA, most of the increase in emissions last year came from the Asia-Pacific region, as well as air and ship traffic.
Europe managed to reduce its emissions by 138 megatons.
The pandemic was recovered more environmentally friendly than previous crises
According to IAE, the recovery from the corona pandemic is better from the point of view of emissions than from previous crises.
While recovering from the financial crisis of 2008, the ratio of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions to gross domestic product was at a higher level than it is now after the corona pandemic.
IAE says the reason for this is that both the EU and the United States have favored a green transition in their economic recovery.
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