The International Energy Agency – the world’s preeminent authority on global energy markets – is urging governments to immediately stop approving new coal-fired power plants and new oil and gas fields and quickly phase out gasoline-powered vehicles to address climate change. The agency issued a comprehensive, interactive report in May 2021 that details ways to transition to a “net-zero emissions” energy market by 2050.
Policies should limit or provide disincentives for the use of certain fuels and technologies, such as unabated coal‐fired power stations, gas boilers and conventional internal combustion engine vehicles. Governments must lead the planning and incentivising of the massive infrastructure investment, including in smart transmission and distribution grids.
Some industry observers, such as The Financial Times noted that the report “set off shockwaves by stating the obvious.” But many see this as a major signal for the political leaders, fossil fuel executives and investors who have long used IEA forecasts to justify carbon expansion. As 11th Hour Project grantee Kelly Trout at Oil Change International told the New York Times, “It’s a huge shift in messaging if they’re saying there’s no need to invest in new fossil fuel supply.”
For 11th Hour Project partners with the Last Chance Alliance in California, the IEA’s report puts even greater urgency behind their demands for Gov. Gavin Newsom to end new drilling and execute a just and rapid transition away from fossil fuels. Likewise, it turns up the megaphones of grantees with the Power Past Fracked Gas coalition as they urge leaders in Washington and Oregon to prevent new power plants and petrochemical facilities in favor of wind and solar energy. There have already been reverberations in Europe, where the asset manager Meeschaert pointed to the IEA’s report as the basis for rejecting French oil major Total’s oil-expanding “climate” plan.
Recommendations, even watershed ones, are the easy part. Acting accordingly is where the real work begins. For health, equity and a livable climate, our network of partners are up to the task.
Related reading: A story from 11th Hour Project grantee Grist on the report notes that the IEA model “relies much less on certain immature technologies than many previous models, because it finds that renewable energy and electric vehicles can be scaled up so quickly.”