The road to net zero and limiting global warming to 1.5 °C remains possible due to the record growth of key clean energy technologies in renewable energy, according to a new edition of the IEA’s landmark Net Zero Roadmap.
IEA said that the world need to invest nearly $4.5 trillion per year in the transition to cleaner energy from the start of the next decade, that is from an expected expenditure of $1.8 trillion in 2023.
“Keeping alive the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C requires the world to come together quickly. The good news is we know what we need to do – and how to do it. Our 2023 Net Zero Roadmap, based on the latest data and analysis, shows a path forward,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Bitol.
“But we also have a very clear message: Strong international cooperation is crucial to success. Governments need to separate climate from geopolitics, given the scale of the challenge at hand,” added Birol.
The report stresses the importance of stronger international cooperation to limiting global warming to 1.5 °C while warning that a failure to sufficiently step up ambition and implementation between now and 2030 could create additional climate risks and make achieving the 1.5 °C goal dependant.
“on the massive deployment of carbon removal technologies, which are expensive and unproven at scale. “In a Delayed Action Case that the report examines, a failure to expand clean energy quickly enough by 2030 means nearly 5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide would have to be removed from the atmosphere every year during the second half of this century. If carbon removal technologies fail to deliver at such scale, returning the temperature to 1.5 °C would not be possible,” wrote IEA in a statement published today.
The IEA pathway to net zero requires an equitable transition, the report said. That will be taking into consideration national circumstances whilst also requiring advanced economies to reach net zero sooner than developing economies,
