The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on March 2 (Thursday) that global energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide hit a record high last year. It added that more clean technology such as solar power and electric vehicles helped in limiting the impact of increased coal and oil use.
Scientists around the world have pointed out in the past that if runaway climate change is to be prevented, deep emission cuts, mainly from burning fossil fuels, will be needed over the coming years.
“We still see emissions growing from fossil fuels, hindering efforts to meet the world’s climate targets,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a release alongside the report.
The report by the Paris-based watchdog comes just weeks after major fossil fuel producers such as Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Shell reported record profits, with BP also rowing back on plans to slash oil and gas output and reduce emissions.
“International and national fossil fuel companies are making record revenues and need to take their share of responsibility,” Birol said.
Global emissions from energy rose by 0.9% in 2022 to a record 36.8 billion tonnes, the IEA analysis showed.
Carbon dioxide emissions due to burning of coal grew by 1.6 per cent last year. This was in part due to many countries turning to more polluting fuel after Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent energy crisis.
CO2 emissions from oil rose by 2.5% but remained below pre-pandemic levels, the report said.
Around half of the increase in oil-related emissions was due to a rise in air travel which was rebounding from a low during the pandemic.
(With inputs from agencies)
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