A global transition to “clean energy” is still far too slow to meet climate pledges and risks fueling even greater price volatility, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said yesterday.
“We are not investing enough to meet future energy needs and the uncertainties are setting the stage for a volatile period ahead,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said. “The social and economic benefits of accelerating clean energy transitions are huge, and the costs of inaction are immense.”
In its annual World Energy Outlook report — published just weeks before the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland — the IEA said that investment in clean energy projects and infrastructure would need to be more than trebled over the next decade if those pledges are to be met.
Photo: CNA
The IEA said that renewable sources such as wind and solar energy continued to grow rapidly, and electric vehicles set new sales records last year, even as economies were bent under the weight of COVID-19 lockdowns.
However, “this clean energy progress is still far too slow to put global emissions into sustained decline towards net zero” by 2050,” it said.
The agency analyzed two possible scenarios.
The first looked at the measures governments had already put in place or specific policies they were developing.
Under this scenario, temperatures in 2100 would be 2.6°C higher than pre-industrial levels, it said.
The second looked at promises made by some governments to achieve net-zero emissions, which would see a doubling of clean energy investment and financing over the next decade.
If these pledges were fully implemented in time, global carbon emissions fall by 40 percent by 2050, the IEA said.
Here, the global average temperature increase in 2100 would be about 2.1°C, which would represent an improvement, but would still be way above the 1.5°C agreed under the Paris Agreement, it said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
RSS