Carbon emissions from advanced economies likely increased in 2018
The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently reported that it expects that carbon dioxide (CO2) increased in the world’s advanced economies in 2018, the first increase in the last five years.
Based on the latest available energy data, IEA expects CO2 emissions in advanced economies in North America, the European Union, and Asia Pacific to increase by around 0.5 percent in 2018, as higher oil and gas consumption more than offset declining coal use.
IEA’s full global energy and CO2 data for 2018 will be released next March. The IEA also expects emerging economies to emit more CO2 than last year.
“Our data shows that despite the strong growth in solar PV and wind, emissions have started to rise again in advanced economies, highlighting the need for deploying all technologies and energy efficiency,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said. “This turnaround should be another warning to governments as they meet in Katowice this week. Increasing efforts are needed to encourage even more renewables, greater energy efficiency, more nuclear, and more innovation for technologies such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage, and hydrogen, for instance.”
Over the past five years, energy-related CO2 emissions from advanced economies declined by approximately 3 percent due largely to decreases in coal consumption, growth in renewable sources of energy, the use of more efficient equipment and appliances and coal-to-gas switching.
In the IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario, which aligns with the goals of the Paris Agreement, lower air pollution, and universal energy access, global emissions fall by more than one percent each year to 2025.
