In view of the too small share that the recovery plans linked to the coronavirus devote to clean energies, global CO2 emissions, the primary source of warming, should reach an unprecedented level by 2023 and continue to grow thereafter, a warned the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Tuesday.
To face the pandemic, States have released unprecedented sums, but barely 2% have so far gone to the transition in favor of clean energies, calculated the IEA in an analysis of the recovery plans and their energy impact .
“Join the action to the word”
At this stage, the bulk of the $ 16 trillion in tax measures announced has gone into health spending and emergency support for businesses and households. Some 2,300 billion were devoted to economic recovery, including 380 billion related to “sustainable” energy projects. Consequence: “in view of current public expenditure forecasts, CO2 emissions are set to reach record levels in 2023 and continue to grow in the following years”.
“Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, many governments have said how important it is to rebuild better, for a healthier future, but many still have to walk the talk,” notes the director of the IEA , Fatih Birol. “Not only does investing in clean energy put the world far from the path of carbon neutrality in the middle of the century, but it also fails to prevent a new record of emissions,” he laments.
North-South ditch
Funding, public and therefore also private, is lacking. According to calculations made by the IEA and the IMF in mid-2020, 1,000 billion dollars of additional green investment per year and over three years (energy efficiency, electrification, networks, etc.) would make it possible to support both recovery and creation of “9 million jobs”, in compliance with the Paris climate agreement. To date, the measures adopted should result in 350 billion dollars in additional annual expenditure, from 2021 to 2023: it is better than before the Covid, but not enough.
The trend is particularly alarming in developing and emerging countries, where, for example, the rebound in electricity demand finds its response in coal rather than solar or wind power. These regions barely show 20% of the investments necessary for their decarbonization, according to the report, which fears a “growing gap” with the rich countries. Thus “many countries are also missing the opportunities they could derive from the development of clean energies: growth, jobs, deployment of the energy industries of the future”, regrets Fatih Birol, who takes the opportunity to recall the commitment of the countries of the North. with respect to the South.
At the COP21 in Paris in 2015, they pledged to provide at least 100 billion dollars annually in climate finance, a “floor” amount and a pledge of more than ten years. With the Covid crisis, the IEA wants, with this tool for monitoring recovery plans (“Sustainable Recovery Tracker”), to help governments measure the impact of their action. This updated report is also published for the G20 of Environment and Energy ministers on July 22-23 in Naples. More than 800 measurements in 50 countries have been scrutinized, which can be viewed on the Agency’s website.
Based in Paris, the IEA was created by the OECD in 1974 to ensure global energy security, notably advising rich countries. In May, the institution, which also monitors greenhouse gas emissions from energy (i.e. the majority of total emissions), struck people by publishing its roadmap for global carbon neutrality on the horizon. 2050. Major conclusion: all new fossil fuel exploration projects (oil, gas, coal) must be abandoned. A “narrow but still passable road, if we act now,” Faith Birol reiterated on Tuesday.