IEA report predicts peak CO2 emissions by 2025

In its World Energy Outlook 2023 (WEO-23), the IEA describes how the 2030 energy system will be significantly different from that of today, based on existing policies and trends alone. The report predicts that the number of electric cars will have increased tenfold and that renewables will make up close to 50 per cent of the global electricity mix, up from around 30 per cent currently. Rapid expansion of solar PV will see it generating more electricity than the entire US power system does today.

According to the IEA, the transition will mean that fossil fuel demand will peak this decade. The share of hydrocarbons in global energy supply has been stuck for decades at around 80 per cent. This is expected to decline to 73 per cent by 2030, with global carbon dioxide emissions peaking by 2025.

“The transition to clean energy is happening worldwide and it’s unstoppable,” said IEA executive director, Fatih Birol. “It’s not a question of ‘if’, it’s just a matter of ‘how soon’ – and the sooner the better for all of us.”