“EMPTY WORDS”
Despite political obstacles, there are signs the transition is beginning.
In October, the IEA said clean technology was attracting twice the investment of fossil fuels and by 2030, half the world’s electricity would come from low-carbon sources.
“But with higher energy use even fast renewables growth doesn’t translate to fast falls in CO2 emissions,” said Dave Jones from think tank Ember.
In October, G20 leaders – whose economies account for three-quarters of global emissions – reaffirmed they would shift away from fossil fuels.
But the gap between what countries say and what they do is significant, said Anne Olhoff, co-author of a damning UN scorecard published in October.
In the past year, just one country – Madagascar – had announced tougher climate policies, it said.
“If we look at action and ambition, nothing much has happened at the global level since last year’s report,” Olhoff said.
Countries face pressure to articulate what concrete steps they are taking to wean off fossil fuels in their next national climate plans, due early 2025.
Many are promising bold policies that align with agreed warming limits, but are approving new oil and gas fields – an impossible contradiction, says the UN’s expert climate panel.
The “worst culprits” were rich Western nations, said Oil Change International and other activist groups in October. But the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and Brazil – the COP28, COP29 and COP30 hosts, respectively – were also ramping up fossil fuel production, they said.
Meanwhile, global temperatures continue to rise, unleashing devastating impacts on people and ecosystems.
“When we talk about climate pledges we are talking about more than just arbitrary, empty words,” said Andreas Sieber from activist group 350.org.
