The world’s richest countries have increased their investment in fossil fuels by almost 30% | A report warns of the setback of the improvements achieved after the covid-19 pandemic
It’s been a decade since the richest countries in the world they promised to reduce their use of fossil fuels and lower their greenhouse gas emissions. Last year, meeting in Glasgow, the world’s wealthiest (and most polluting) economies reaffirmed their promise to turn off the tap on oil, coal and gas and pledged, once again, to increase their climate policies. Twelve months later, just a few weeks from the Sharm el-Sheikh climate summita new report reveals that the countries of the G20 not only have they broken their promises but, in addition, in the last year they have increased their emissions Y have rebounded their purchase of fossil fuels.
The annual report on climate transparency (‘Climate transparency report’) states that much of the progress made in 2020, after the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, has been lost in just one year. Carbon dioxide emissions, for example, fell five points with the arrival of the coronavirus and have risen by nearly 6% in 2021. The report also warns of a new increase in subsidies for gas, coal and oil. Even before the eruption of the geopolitical crisis with Russia and the consequent energy crisis, the G20 countries increased their investment in fossil fuels by almost 30%.
“The G20 is responsible for the three quarters of global emissions. Gas and coal may be the most expensive, highest emitting, and least secure energy options, but they are still the ones getting the most. higher levels of government support“, denounces Bill Hareexecutive director of Climate Analytics, one of the organizations that leads the climate transparency report presented this Thursday.
Rebound in emissions
At the beginning of 2020, the explosion of the 2020 health crisis paralyzed the entire world and, as a collateral effect, produced a drop in emissions. So there were many who, looking at these data, expected that the trend would continue in the following years. But according to the recently published analysis, just one year after the outbreak of Covid-19, practically all countries increased their emissions and are once again on the upward trend. “The uptick in emissions shows that pandemic recovery measures for G20 members did not change emissions trends,” warns sebastian wegnercoordinator of the climate transparency report and member of the Berlin Governance Platform.
The energy industryfor example, managed to reduce its emissions by 2.8% in 2020 and a year later increased them by 7.1%. Brazil, Turkey and Russia they have been the countries with the largest per capita uptick in carbon dioxide emissions related to power generation. As for the building-related emissions it is estimated that they fell by 2.1% in the pandemic and increased by 4.4% a year later. The transport industry managed to reduce its footprint by 11.5% and now, although it has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, it has rebounded by 7.7%.
In some countries Vehicles are estimated to emit more now than before Covid-19. China, for example, in 2019 managed to reduce its transport-related emissions by 5% and in 2021 it had a 12% rebound in this sector. Exactly the same thing happened in Turkey. After reducing their emissions by 7%, they rose by 12%.
polluting investments
The report also warns of a new increase in investments in fossil fuels. In 2020, the investment in gas, coal and oil of the G20 countries fell to 147,000 million dollars. A year later, in 2021, this figure rose almost 30% and stood at 190,000 billion dollars, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Everything points to the 2022 this number will be even higher. Largely due to the energy crisis and the (desperate) search for energy sources for the winter.
China, Indonesia and UK They have been the countries that have increased their investment in fossil fuels the most in the last two years. Between 2019 and 2020, it is estimated that more than 60% of public funding for energy has gone to these highly polluting industries that are responsible for greenhouse gas emissions that have driven global warming and the climate crisis. currently devouring the planet.
“Fossil fuel subsidies are increasing again instead of decreasing. More investments are needed to transform energy systems towards renewable energy instead of prolonging the dependence on fossil fuels,” adds Ipek Gençsü of the Overseas Development Institute.
The only positive note provided by the report has to do with the increase in renewable energies. Between 2016 and 2021, the presence of these energies increased by 67% in the United Kingdom, 48% in Japan and 40% in Mexico. The countries that have increased their use the least have been Russia, with an increase of 16%, and Italy, with 14%.