TheCable

The International Energy Agency (IEA) says the world needs to scrap future fossil fuel projects in order to reach net-zero carbon emissions and reduce global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius by 2050.

This means that future fossil fuel projects such as coal mining, oil exploration, gas flaring activities, investments in the oil and gas sector should be drastically reduced or stopped entirely.

In a report released on Tuesday, the IEA predicted a “sharp decline in fossil fuel demand” in the next three decades as well as a 2040 deadline for the global energy sector to achieve carbon neutrality — a drastic reduction in carbon emission.

The agency called for fast and increased investment in the renewable energy sector to bring about developmental, economic, and health gains.

It also said that there needs to be an increase in energy efficiency to 4 percent, adding that the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles would have to end in 2035.

The IEA noted that the availability of clean energy and clean cooking solutions could reduce the number of premature deaths by 2.5 million a year by 2050.

Fatih Birol, executive director of IEA, said the roadmap outlined in the report showed that the path to global net-zero carbon emission was “narrow but still achievable”.

“The scale and speed of the efforts demanded by this critical and formidable goal – our best chance of tackling climate change and limiting global warming to 1.5C – make this perhaps the greatest challenge humankind has ever faced,” he said.

Another significant milestone laid out by the IEA is that there should be “no new oil and gas fields approved for development” beyond projects that are already committed as of 2021.