IEA sounds warning on net zero targets

The IEA says faster change is urgently needed across most components of the energy system to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, according to its latest evaluation of global progress.

The International Energy Agency has called for an acceleration of global efforts to reach net zero emissions amid concern the scale of investment and projects to hit green goals is falling short of official targets.

A report by Net Zero Australia released on Wednesday concluded Australia must find $1.5 trillion by the end of the decade to meet 2050 green targets in an effort experts say would need to mirror the reconstruction of Europe after World War II.

The IEA said faster change is urgently needed across most components of the energy system to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, according to its latest evaluation of global progress.

“The clean energy economy is rapidly taking shape, but even faster progress is needed in most areas to meet international energy and climate goals,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol.

“While progress can be observed across all of the 50-plus components of the energy system evaluated in Tracking Clean Energy Progress, the majority are not yet on a path consistent with net zero emissions by 2050,” the IEA added.

“Stronger policy support and greater investment are needed across a wide range of different technologies, in all regions of the world, to enable a broader and faster shift towards clean energy to keep net zero emissions by 2050 within reach.”

Net Zero Australia’s modelling suggests the skilled workforce needed to install and run new generation assets, transmission lines, and associated decarbonisation ­efforts will need to double to at least 200,000 people by 2030 and reach 700,000-850,000 by 2060 – up to 4 per cent of Australia’s estimated total workforce.

The report finds that Australia will need to both speed up and broaden its decarbonisation efforts to reach net zero emissions by 2050, including a whole-of-economy approach that includes more options, stronger investment drivers and a far larger pipeline of renewable energy and other transition projects.

The IEA said a full transition to net-zero emissions will require decarbonising all areas of energy production and use.

“Rapid innovation is needed to bring to market clean technologies in particular for those parts of the energy system where emissions are harder to address, such as heavy industry and long-distance transport,” the report said.

“Positive steps forward on innovation have been made in the past few years, but an acceleration is needed in order to soon move to deployment of novel low emission technologies for these areas.”

It noted the energy transition was working at different speeds across both sectors and countries with nearly 95 per cent of electric car sales in 2022 occurring in China, the US and Europe and nearly three quarters of operating and planned carbon capture ­capacity in North America and Europe.