IEA Report Highlights Need for Continued Investment in Clean Energy Technologies to Tackle Climate Crisis

Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions rose by under 1% in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) new analysis of CO2 Emissions 2022.

The new analysis, part of the IEA’s Global Energy Transitions Stocktake series, shows that solar, wind, EVs, heat pumps, and energy efficiency helped limit the impacts of increased use of coal and oil amid the global energy crisis. The report brings together the IEA’s latest analysis in one place, making it freely accessible in support of the first Global Stocktake in the lead-up to the COP28 Climate Change Conference in November.

Although the rise in emissions last year was far smaller than the exceptional jump of over 6% in 2021, emissions still remain on an unsustainable growth trajectory. The report calls for stronger actions to accelerate the clean energy transition and move the world onto a path toward meeting its energy and climate goals.

The report shows that global energy-related CO2 emissions grew in 2022 by 0.9%, or 321 million tonnes, reaching a new high of more than 36.8 billion tonnes. The rise in emissions was significantly slower than global economic growth of 3.2%, signaling a return to a decade-long trend that was interrupted in 2021 by the rapid and emissions-intensive economic rebound from the Covid crisis.

Extreme weather events, including droughts and heatwaves, as well as an unusually large number of nuclear power plants being offline, contributed to the rise in emissions. However, an additional 550 million tonnes of emissions were avoided by increased deployment of clean energy technologies.

“The impacts of the energy crisis didn’t result in the major increase in global emissions that was initially feared – and this is thanks to the outstanding growth of renewables, EVs, heat pumps and energy-efficient technologies. Without clean energy, the growth in CO2 emissions would have been nearly three times as high,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

However, emissions are still growing from fossil fuels hindering efforts to meet the world’s climate targets. It’s critical that the international and national fossil fuel companies review their strategies to make sure they’re aligned with meaningful emissions reductions.

CO2 emissions from coal grew by 1.6% as the global energy crisis continued to spur a wave of gas-to-coal switching in Asia and to a lesser degree in Europe. While the increase in coal emissions was only around one-quarter of 2021’s rise, it still far exceeded the last decade’s average growth rate.

The increase in emissions from coal more than offset the 1.6% decline in emissions from natural gas as supply continued to tighten following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and as European businesses and citizens responded with efforts to cut their gas use.

CO2 emissions from oil grew even more than those from coal, increasing by 2.5% but still remaining below pre-pandemic levels. Around half of the year-on-year increase in oil emissions came from aviation as air travel continued to rebound from pandemic lows.

• China, the world’s largest emitter of CO2, saw broadly flat emissions in 2022. This was largely due to strict Covid-19 measures, which led to weaker economic growth, as well as a decline in construction activity. These factors contributed to reductions in industrial and transport emissions.

• In the European Union, emissions fell by 2.5%, thanks in part to the record deployment of renewables. This helped to ensure that the use of coal was not as high as some observers had anticipated. A mild start to the European winter and energy savings measures in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also played a role in reducing emissions.

• In the United States, emissions grew by 0.8%. This was due in part to buildings increasing their energy consumption to cope with extreme temperatures. It’s worth noting that excluding China, emissions from Asia’s emerging and developing economies increased by 4.2%, reflecting their rapid economic and energy demand growth.

Overall, the IEA’s report is based on detailed region-by-region and fuel-by-fuel analysis, drawing on the latest official national data and publicly available energy, economic, and weather data. The report covers CO2 emissions from all energy combustion and industrial processes and includes information on methane and nitrous oxide emissions, providing a complete picture of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in 2022.

While it’s encouraging to see that some regions have made progress in reducing emissions, the overall increase in emissions remains a cause for concern. It’s clear that stronger actions are needed to accelerate the clean energy transition and move the world onto a path toward meeting its energy and climate goals. The IEA’s report serves as a call to action for governments, businesses, and individuals to work together to reduce emissions and create a more sustainable future.

Access the full report here