Photo: Alexander Shields The Duty
A system of wind turbines at Cap-Chat
The problem, with the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is less the direction of change that their slowness, wrote last month in a report on the energy transition Forum in Davos, the former manager of the record of climate at the united Nations, Christiana Figueres.
Knowing the governments in a hurry to act by the crisis of the COVID-19 and fearing to see them miss the opportunity to use their recovery policies to accelerate a transition to green energy, the international energy Agency (IEA) has offered, on Thursday, a Plan for a sustainable recovery – key. “Governments have an opportunity such as we do meet once in life to revive their economies and employment, while accelerating the transition towards an energy future which is more resilient and cleaner “, said to the Agence France-Presse, the executive director, Fatih Birol.
Developed in partnership with the international monetary Fund, this “plan” of 175 pages account a thirty proposals which, in exchange for a billion US $of investment per year for three years (or 0.7 % of global GDP), would add 1.1 percentage points to global economic growth per year, would create or would save 9 million jobs annually, reduce emissions of greenhouse gas emissions of 4.5 billion tonnes, in addition to giving finally access to electricity to 270 million poor people and enable 200 million others to cook their food without polluting the environment.
One recalls, once again, the effectiveness of carbon pricing, the character of counter-productive subsidies to fossil fuels and the fact that renewable energies are needed more and more often as the cheapest option. It proposes measures to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, increase the resilience of electricity networks to climate-related disasters and to multiply the number of electric cars and fast trains. It encourages investment in the research and presents new technologies (batteries, hydrogen production, capture and sequestration of carbon…) that are ready to take flight.
Faster !
But there is a catch, have immediately responded to the environmental groups. The IEA admits itself that its instructions would not adopt a trajectory consistent with the target of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. His ” report persists to be household to all forms of energy and made the impasse on the required output of hydrocarbons “
In its report on energy transition last month, the world economic Forum in Davos was, in turn, that the march towards a more sustainable world has been “constant” in recent years, but “too slow” to achieve the targets of Paris.
Out of the 115 countries analyzed, 94, representing 70 % of global CO2 emissions, have improved their performance in this chapter, for 6 years, including major energy producers, such as India and China. The net importers of fuels have made more progress than exporters, and it has been easier for latecomers to catch up with the leaders in its past to invent new ways to improve their performance.
At the top of the ranking are the countries of Northern Europe, such as Sweden (1st), Finland (3rd) and Norway (5th), yet producer of oil. There is also the Switzerland (2nd), the Uk (7th) and France (8th). Despite their progress, India (74th) and China (78th) remain far behind, but ahead of most countries in Africa and the Middle East.
It need to go down to 28th place to find the Canada, alongside the United States (32nd), Brazil (47th) and Iran (101st), has the dubious honor of being part of the group of those who have “stagnated or declined” in recent years, lamented the fact that the Davos Forum.
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