‘No sign’ of promised fossil fuel transition as emissions hit new high. Despite nations’ pledges at Cop28 a year ago, the burning of coal, oil and gas continued to rise in 2024. There is “no sign” of the transition away from burning fossil fuels that was pledged by the world’s nations a year ago, with 2024 on track to set another new record for global carbon emissions. The new data, released at the UN’s Cop29 climate conference in Azerbaijan, indicates that the planet-heating emissions from coal, oil and gas will rise by 0.8% in 2024. In stark contrast, emissions have to fall by 43% by 2030 for the world to have any chance of keeping to the 1.5C temperature target and limiting “increasingly dramatic” climate impacts on people around the globe. Fossil fuel emissions are projected to be almost 8% higher in 2024 than in 2015, the year the Paris climate agreement was signed. Romain Ioualalen, at Oil Change International, said: “At Cop28, all countries pledged to transition away from fossil fuels but, on the ground, we have witnessed the opposite: new oil and gas projects are being approved around the world, in complete defiance of climate science.” “At Cop29, we need to see countries come to the table with [commitments] that end fossil fuel expansion and accelerate renewable energy,” he said.
The host of Cop29, Azerbaijan, is planning a major expansion in gas production in the next decade.
