Reacción a "Fossil CO2 emissions to rise to 37.4 billion tonnes by 2024, says major carbon balance report"

The Global Carbon Budget points to natural gas as one of the main drivers of carbon emissions globally. Currently, natural gas emissions worldwide are growing faster than coal and oil. Since 22% of global emissions correspond to natural gas, this should be one of the main points of concern to achieve net-zero futures. The rates of increase in natural gas-related carbon emissions are particularly steep in China and India. For years, the fossil fuel industries have presented natural gas as the ‘cleaner cousin’ of oil and coal, arguing that natural gas plays an important role as a ‘transition fuel’ because its combustion is more efficient. This data suggests the opposite is true: natural gas is cementing our dependence on fossil fuels at a time when there should be a swift change to renewable energy. Natural gas therefore drives carbon emissions up and does not work as a transition fuel.  

The Global Carbon Budget demonstrates the enormous progress being made towards decarbonisation, with some countries having been successful in slowing down carbon emissions through the national programmes they committed to after the 2015 Paris Agreement for Climate Action (known as Nationally Determined Contributions). However, more is needed to achieve the carbon emission reductions that would put us on a safe path towards net-zero futures. Part of the problem is that much emphasis goes on technological and managerial solutions. Still, there is a need for a profound social transformation that must be promoted through demand management measures, especially in sectors like air travel. Unfortunately, such demand management measures are not yet politically palatable. In short, technology alone is not sufficient; demand management measures are also needed.

The Global Carbon Budget offers a positive story demonstrating the penetration of low-carbon technologies. Many countries offer positive stories of decarbonisation associated with increasingly available renewable generation technologies. However, emissions from fossil fuels continue to increase in non-OECD countries. In many countries with significant deficits in energy access, progress towards universal access to energy (one of the pillars of Sustainable Development Goal 7) has been achieved at the expense of exploiting fossil fuel reserves. Despite the availability of technology and practical solutions to advance a low-carbon economy, lower-income countries find that lack of investment and underdeveloped supply chains stop renewable energy development. Community energy projects offer practical solutions to advance the low-carbon economy in undersupplied, remote areas, but communities need help accessing the means to deliver these projects. There is a need to support lower-income countries therefore to leapfrog towards low-carbon economies.

The Global Carbon Budget is a methodologically robust assessment led by Future Earth, which has been leading global assessments of environmental challenges for 30 years.