Fossil fuels subsidies at all-time high, say researchers at COP29
The climate crisis is worsening and yet fossil fuel subsidies remain at an all-time high, according to a report released during COP29.
(Baku, Azerbaijan) — Fossil fuel subsidies remain at an all-time high and funding for fossil fuel-prolonging projects quadrupled between 2021 and 2022, researchers said in a briefing warning COP29 negotiators.
The new Climate Action Tracker (CAT) report, published this morning — on Day 4 of COP29 in Baku — said that emissions targets are unlikely to meet the Paris Agreement goal as a consequence.
“Unsurprisingly, this means that our emission projections expect an emissions peak by the end of the decade, but lack the steep decline necessary in that period to reach the Paris Agreement goal,” it said.
“While renewable energy is expanding rapidly, its positive climate impact is being offset by the growth of fossil fuel subsidies, which continue to anchor fossil fuel use in the global economy,” it added.
For the trend in renewables to make a real difference, they need to displace fossil fuels and “not simply coexist with them,” they urged.
Trends so far translate into emissions projections “peaking and plateauing by the end of the decade, but lack the steep decline necessary in that period to reach the Paris Agreement goal,” they warned.
2024 has been a year marked by minimal progress in terms of climate targets, CAT warned, with almost no new national climate targets (NDCs) or net zero pledges even though governments have repeatedly agreed to strengthen their 2030 targets.
Countries need to establish “absolute, economy-wide, emission reduction trajectory targets and set a clear and transparent climate target for 2030 and 2035,” CAT urged.
“Countries should avoid setting flexible and ambiguous targets, if we want to stay below 1.5°C,” it added.
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