IEA has warned that progress towards clean energy is still very slow

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned that progress towards clean energy is still very slow for global emissions to fall steadily to zero. Investment in renewable energy must triple by the end of this decade if the world is to fight climate change effectively and keep volatile energy markets under control. "The world is not investing enough to meet future energy needs," the IEA said in its World Energy Outlook 2021 report. energy services in a sustainable way ". The agency says the most important are "clear signals and guidance from policy makers". Electricity prices have reached record levels in recent weeks, with oil and gas prices reaching multi-year highs and energy shortages affecting Asia, Europe and the United States. The reason is the sharp increase in demand supported by the recovery of economies from the corona crisis. At the same time, demand for fossil fuels is picking up. The IEA has warned that renewables, such as solar, wind or hydropower, should account for a significantly larger share of the recovery in post-pandemic energy investment. According to the agency, a faster transition to greener energy will better protect consumers in the future, as a sharp rise in commodity prices will then have less effect on household accounts in the future. Fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil accounted for almost 80% of global energy consumption in 2020 and renewables for only 12%. In order to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement of 2015 to keep global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, the IEA said the share of fossil fuels in the global energy mix would have to fall below a quarter by the middle of the century. If the world continues on the current trajectory, the temperature will rise by an average of 2.6 degrees Celsius by 2100, with the UN saying it could rise by as much as 4.4 degrees Celsius. In all scenarios, the IEA expects demand for oil to peak in the middle of the next decade, after which it should start to decline slightly.