Fossil fuel production will double to endangering levels by 2030 - Int’l Report

Fossil fuel production will double to endangering levels by 2030 – Int’l Report

Oct 24, 2021 News

Despite talk of improved climate ambitions…

Kaieteur News – While governments across the world have outlined plans to improve their climate ambitions, a damning report has revealed the disingenuousness of these intentions. Instead of decreasing, the document has exposed that fossil fuel production is poised to double to endangering levels by 2030.
This is noted in the 2021 Production Gap Report which was prepared and released last week by leading research institutes in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The document’s major finding is that despite increased climate ambitions and net-zero commitments, governments still plan to produce more than double the current amount of fossil fuels in 2030 which would not be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C and averting an environmental catastrophe.
The report, first launched in 2019, measures the gap between governments’ planned production of coal, oil and gas and the global production levels consistent with meeting the Paris Agreement temperature limits. Two years later, researchers found that the production gap is largely unchanged. In fact, the gap between government action and the Paris goals is projected to get wider.
Over the next two decades, it was noted that governments are collectively planning an increase in global oil and gas production, and only a modest decrease in coal production. Taken together, the report says their plans and projections see global, total fossil fuel production increasing until to at least 2040, creating an ever-widening production gap.
“The devastating impacts of climate change are here for all to see. There is still time to limit long-term warming to 1.5°C, but this window of opportunity is rapidly closing,” says Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “At COP26 and beyond, the world’s governments must step up, taking rapid and immediate steps to close the fossil fuel production gap and ensure a just and equitable transition. This is what climate ambition looks like.”
The 2021 Production Gap Report provides country profiles for major producer countries which include: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. The country profiles show that most of these governments continue to provide significant policy support for fossil fuel production.
Furthermore, the report is produced by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Overseas Development Institute (ODI), E3G, and UNEP. More than 40 researchers contributed to the analysis and review, spanning numerous universities, think tanks and other research organisations.
Below are some of the key findings of the report:
· Governments’ production plans and projections would lead to about 240 percent more coal, 57 percent more oil, and 71 percent more gas in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
· Global gas production is projected to increase the most between 2020 and 2040 based on governments’ plans. This continued, long-term global expansion in gas production is inconsistent with the Paris Agreement’s temperature limits.
· Countries have directed over USD 300 billion in new funds towards fossil fuel activities since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic — more than they have towards clean energy.
· In contrast, international public finance for production of fossil fuels from G20 countries and major multilateral development banks (MDBs) has significantly decreased in recent years; one-third of MDBs and G20 development finance institutions (DFIs) by asset size have adopted policies that exclude fossil fuel production activities from future finance.
· Verifiable and comparable information on fossil fuel production and support — from both governments and companies — is essential to addressing the production gap.