The World Energy Outlook from the International Energy Agency is a key publication when it comes to energy and climate issues as it presents key indicators, facts and trends from renowned experts.
This year the IEA outlined the importance of ending fossil fuels subsidies – which amounted to $544 billion / 400€ billion last year, five times more than for renewables – to unleash more of the potential of energy efficiency.
Ending these subsidies globally is thus a vital necessity as current greenhouse gases emissions and carbon intensity would propel us in a warming of 3.6°C, ie. the end of our civilization.
Given how even the internationally approved target of a warming of “only” 2°C is considered by some analysts as dangerous, you can imagine how such a warming would be destructive.
While a lot of renewable energy capacity has come online in the previous decade, the IEA points out that the share of fossil fuels in the world energy consumption is the exact same as 25 years ago as they still account for 82 percent.
This is something I have pointed out many times over the previous years : pushing forward energy efficiency everywhere is absolutely key in enabling renewables to have a bigger share of our energy production.
—
A good news brought by this report is that carbon pricing is seen as increasing as China will start doing so in 2015. As Planetark reports quoting the IEA report : ” The share of global emissions subject to carbon pricing policies is on course to rise to around 33 percent in 2035 from about 8 percent last year “
The price of carbon will also be increasing in the next 20 years, from $10 a tonne in 2012, to $20 a tonne in 2020 and $40 by 2035. Now let’s hope more countries will start taxing carbon as it could literally solve two of their most pressing problems : debt and climate change.
—
For more details about the IEA findings, please check out their official press release as well as their website.