"IEA’s Fatih Birol says uptake of solar power and EVs is in line with net zero goal but rich countries must hasten their broader plans".
"The prospects of the world staying within the 1.5C limit on global heating have brightened owing to the “staggering” growth of renewable energy and green investment in the past two years, the chief of the world’s energy watchdog has said.
Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, and the world’s foremost energy economist, said much more needed to be done but that the rapid uptake of solar power and electric vehicles were encouraging.
“Despite the scale of the challenges, I feel more optimistic than I felt two years ago,” he said in an interview. “Solar photovoltaic installations and electric vehicle sales are perfectly in line with what we said they should be, to be on track to reach net zero by 2050, and thus stay within 1.5C. Clean energy investments in the last two years have seen a staggering 40% increase.”
But Birol also noted that greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector were “still stubbornly high”, and that the extreme weather seen around the world this year had shown the climate was already changing “at frightening speed”."
Fiona Harvey reports for the Guardian September 26, 2023.
SEE ALSO:
"Report: The World’s Most Critical Climate Target Is Still Within Reach" (Grist)
"Carbon Capture Tech Hype Is Fizzling Out, IEA Says" (Earther)
"Boost In Solar Energy And Electric Vehicle Sales Gives Hope For Climate Goals, Report Says" (AP)
"Peak Oil Is Near, Energy Agency Says, but Climate Change Is Far From Solved" (New York Times)
"IEA Says Route To Net Zero Requires More Cash And Less Politics" (Reuters)
Advertisement 
