Announcements
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Announcements
Alongside the launch of the 2023 Production Gap Report, which found that governments plan to produce more than double the fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C, SEI Research Fellow Ploy Achakulwisut writes in Context why omitting fossil fuel reduction from climate plans “is like trying to drive with the rearview mirror missing.”
Fundamentally, it is energy that is central to the fabric of our society, not fossil fuels.
Ploy Achakulwisut, SEI Research Fellow
Despite 151 governments making net zero pledges, a look at governments’ own plans and projections for fossil fuel production reveals a forecasted increase in global coal production until 2030, and in global oil and gas production until at least 2050, creating an ever-widening gap between the fossil fuels the world produces and the level needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C or even 2°C.
That’s why, in addition to ramping up renewable energy, governments must also initiate a corresponding phase-down in fossil fuel production, Achakulwisut says.
Oil tankers sail at high speed beneath a large sling bridge across the sea
She explains how continued fossil fuel production contributes to lost return investments in the industry and delays the necessary transition away from fossil fuels. Climate crises across the globe call for a reckoning with the world’s fossil fuel addiction at COP28 and beyond, she says, reinforcing that while the world requires energy, it does not require fossil fuels.
Other publication / Countries will, in aggregate, produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C.
Press release / New report published today: governments plan to produce around 110% more fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C
Past event / Watch a detailed review of the 2023 Production Gap Report findings by leading experts, recorded on 8 November 2023.
Initiative / The Carbon Lock-In Initiative seeks to uncover and address the barriers that uphold the fossil fuel-based economy.
SEI report / Amid growing momentum to link fossil fuel production and climate goals, transparency on countries’ alignment with Paris goals is crucial to assessing progress.
Journal article / Researchers analyse IPCC Sixth Assessment Report mitigation scenarios and their implications for limiting fossil fuel production.
Perspective / The Paris Agreement goals are still within our grasp if policymakers decisively act now, say SEI US Scientists Peter Erickson and Ploy Achakulwisut.
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