Global renewable energy capacity grew by the fastest pace recorded in the last 20 years in 2023, which could put the world within reach of meeting a key climate target by the end of the decade, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The world’s renewable energy grew by 50% last year to 510 gigawatts (GW) in 2023, the 22nd year in a row that renewable capacity additions set a new record, according to figures from the IEA. The “spectacular” growth offers a “real chance” of global governments meeting a…
Tag: Fossil fuels
Cop28: China ‘would like to see agreement to substitute renewables for fossil fuels’
China would like to see nations agree to substitute renewable energy for fossil fuels, the country’s chief climate official has said, as nations wrangled over the weekend on the wording of a deal on the climate crisis. Xie Zhenhua, China’s climate envoy, would not be explicit on whether China supported or opposed a phase-out of fossil fuels, which more than 100 governments are pushing for at crucial climate talks, the Cop28 UN summit. But he did indicate that he and his delegation were engaging positively to try to find a…
China’s coal addiction puts spotlight on its climate ambitions before Cop28
China’s addiction to building new coal-fired power plants is becoming increasingly entrenched, even as the country is on track to reach peak CO2 emissions before its 2030 target. As climate officials from around the world prepare to meet in the United Arab Emirates for Cop28, many are hoping that the recent joint climate agreement between the US and China, released days before Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in California, can lay the groundwork for positive commitments at the UN’s climate conference. The last major breakthrough involving China at Cop…
From China’s emissions to Australia’s offshore windfarms, things are moving on climate – some even in the right direction | Adam Morton
If you’re searching for some hope on the climate crisis before the Cop28 UN meeting in Dubai this month, try this: China may be changing direction on pollution earlier than expected. Lauri Myllyvirta, a longtime China analyst now with the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, calculated that CO2 emissions from the world’s biggest national polluter are likely to fall next year and could then go into “structural decline”. While the country’s emissions have increased this year – unsurprisingly, given that Beijing lifted zero-Covid controls at the end…
Banks pumped more than $150bn in to companies running ‘carbon bomb’ projects in 2022
Banks pumped more than $150bn last year into companies whose giant “carbon bomb” projects could destroy the last chance of stopping the planet heating to dangerous levels, the Guardian can reveal. The carbon bombs – 425 extraction projects that can each pump more than one gigaton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – cumulatively hold enough coal, oil and gas to burn through the rapidly dwindling carbon budget four times over. Between 2016 and 2022, banks mainly in the US, China and Europe gave $1.8tn in financing to the companies…
US behind more than a third of global oil and gas expansion plans, report finds
The US accounts for more than a third of the expansion of global oil and gas production planned by mid-century, despite its claims of climate leadership, research has found. Canada and Russia have the next biggest expansion plans, calculated based on how much carbon dioxide is likely to be produced from new developments, followed by Iran, China and Brazil. The United Arab Emirates, which is to host the annual UN climate summit this year, Cop28 in Dubai in November, is seventh on the list. The data, in a report from…
China continues coal spree despite climate goals
China is approving new coal power projects at the equivalent of two plants every week, a rate energy watchdogs say is unsustainable if the country hopes to achieve its energy targets. The government has pledged to peak emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2060, and in 2021 the president, Xi Jinping, pledged to stop building coal powered plants. But after regional power crunches in 2022, China started a spree of approving new projects and restarting suspended ones. In 2022 the government approved a record-breaking 86 gigawatts (GW) of…
Economic ‘headwinds’ lead IEA to cut global oil demand forecast
Global oil demand will reach an all-time high this year, but “persistent macroeconomic headwinds” mean it will not grow as quickly as had previously been expected, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said. The Paris-based global energy watchdog said that demand was expected to rise by 2.2m barrels a day in 2023, leading to an average of 102.1m barrels a day. But that prediction is 220,000 barrels a day lower than its previous expectations – the first time the agency has lowered its forecast for growth this year. China, boosted…
China ramps up coal power despite carbon neutral pledges
Local governments in China approved more new coal power in the first three months of 2023 than in the whole of 2021, according to official documents. The approvals, analysed by Greenpeace, reveal that between January and March this year, at least 20.45 gigawatts of coal power was approved, up from 8.63GW in the same period in 2022. In the whole of 2021, 18GW of coal was approved. A Chinese Communist party (CCP) five-year plan from 2016 had placed a heavy emphasis on reducing the use of coal and developing clean…
Confusion surrounds China’s energy policies as GDP and climate goals clash
China’s energy policies are fast creating a type of “emissions ambiguity”, as the twin goals of boosting GDP growth and reducing carbon emissions come into conflict. The uncertainty is whether and when the world’s biggest carbon emitter will start to curb greenhouse gas pollution. The release of the country’s annual statistics communique on Tuesday did not clear things up. As Lauri Myllyvirta, an analyst at Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, noted this month, China’s carbon emissions may have risen 1% or fallen by that amount in 2022.…