The Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Faith Birol, said that scientists and activists claiming that the 1.5C limit on global warming was killed off at the latest COP27 due to the lack of action, is incorrect and not supported by the data.
He said: "It is factually incorrect, and politically it is very wrong. . . The fact is that the chances of 1.5C are narrowing, but it is still achievable."
Birol added that the "unusual coalition" of scientists, activists and "fossil fuel incumbents" stating that the lower warming goal is dead, is politically wrong and they are "jumping to conclusions that are not borne out by the data."
According to Birol, the shift to clean energy investment has greatly increased this year, mainly due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and the need to divest from the fossil fuels supplied by Russia, on which Europe was dependent. Additionally, high prices of energy produced by fossil fuels, make investments in green energy, such as solar, wind, tidal and even nuclear, more feasible.
Birol also acknowledged that the outcome of the COP27 summit was weak on the carbon emission pledges, including a lack of support to phase down fossil fuels by many countries and a low commitment to keep the 1.5C warming, which would require a much stronger action from some of the participating countries.
However, he said that the economics of the transition to clean energy is clear, with wind and solar power now cheaper to produce than fossil fuels across much of the world and that more and more countries are seeking to expand renewable energy sources as a matter of national security and industrial policy.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), carbon emissions must be reduced by 45%, compared to 2010 levels, by 2030 to be able to stay within the 1.5C warming limit compared to the pre-industrial average temperatures.
