Burning fossil fuels accounts for 75 per cent of global greenhouse emissions: the “poisoned root of the climate crisis”, according to António Guterres, secretary-general of the UN. But quitting them is far from easy.
Global investment in clean technologies is on track to hit $2tn this year, according to the International Energy Agency, which is almost twice the amount being spent on fossil fuels. Even so, this is still less than half the estimated $4.5tn of annual investment needed by the early 2030s to achieve net zero goals.
Progress on a global level has been sluggish, with huge growth in wind and solar capacity over the past few years failing to keep pace with climbing energy demand in economies such as China and India. Fossil fuels accounted for 81.5 per cent of global energy consumption in 2023, slightly down from 82 per cent in 2022 and 86 per cent in 1995, according to the…
