A plateau? Global CO2 emissions rose less than initially feared in 2022, says IEA

Context: According to the IEA’s ‘CO2 Emissions in 2022’ report, global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions rose by under 1% in 2022.

Background:

  • The report is the first in a new series, the Global Energy Transitions Stocktake, which will bring together the IEA’s latest analysis in one place.
  • This will make it freely accessible in support of the first Global Stocktake in the lead-up to the COP28 Climate Change Conference (Dubai, UAE).

About the report:

  • It covers CO2 emissions from all energy combustion and industrial processes.
  • It also includes information on methane and nitrous oxide emissions, providing a complete picture of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in 2022.

 

Important takeaways from the report:

  • Global energy-related CO2 emissions grew by 0.9%/321 million tonnes in 2022, reaching a new high of more than 36.8 billion tonnes.
  • The rise in emissions last year was far smaller than the exceptional jump of over 6% in 2021.
  • However, the report called for stronger actions to accelerate the clean energy transition to move the world towards meeting its energy and climate goals.

 

Reasons behind better results in 2022: Growth of solar, wind, electric vehicles, heat pumps and energy efficiency helped limit the impacts of increased use of coal and oil amid the global energy crisis.

 

Region-specific findings:

  • China’s emissions were broadly flat in 2022 due to strict Covid-19 measures.
  • The EU emissions fell by 2.5%, thanks to the record deployment of renewables and energy savings measures in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also contributed.
  • In the US, emissions grew by 0.8% as buildings increased their energy consumption to cope with extreme temperatures.
  • Excluding China, emissions from Asia’s emerging and developing economies increased by 4.2%, reflecting their rapid economic and energy demand growth.

 

Fuel-by-fuel analysis:

  • CO2 emissions from coal grew by 1.6% as the global energy crisis continued to spur a wave of gas-to-coal switching in Asia.
  • The increase in coal emissions balanced the 1.6% decline in emissions from natural gas as supplies were limited by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
  • CO2 emissions from oil grew by 2.5% (came mainly from the aviation sector) but still remained below pre-pandemic levels.

Environment, Conservation, Pollution

 Source: DTE

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