The world is experiencing an increasing number of anomalies in climate patterns. Rising temperature, changed precipitation patterns and more frequent extreme weather events are posing a significant risk to the energy sector. They affect fuel supply, energy production, the physical resilience of energy infrastructure, and energy demand.

To reduce the climate risks, building resilience of energy systems becomes increasingly important. A climate-resilient energy system can withstand the long-term changes in climate patterns, continue operation against the immediate shocks from extreme weather events, and restore the system’s function after an interruption resulting from climate hazards. It brings multiple benefits, supporting clean energy transition; enabling economic development; improving energy security; protecting vulnerable groups; and contributing disaster risk reduction.

To ensure the benefits of climate resilience, policies have a critical role to play....

Modern and sustainable forms of bioenergy play an important role in our new special report on how the global energy sector can reach net-zero emissions by 2050, which also examines bioenergy’s advantages and limitations in efforts to address climate change by limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 °C.

Bioenergy is a versatile renewable energy source that can be used in all sectors, and it can often make use of existing transmission and distribution systems and end-user equipment. But there are constraints on expanding the supply of bioenergy, and possible trade-offs with sustainable development goals, including avoiding conflicts at local level with other uses of land, notably for food production and biodiversity protection.

To navigate these risks, our Roadmap to Net Zero by 2050 combined for the first time the IEA’s global energy system modelling with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)’s Global Biosphere Management...

"The rebound in energy investment is a welcome sign, but much greater resources have to be mobilised and directed to clean energy technologies to put the world on track to reach net-zero emissions by 2050"

"The rebound in energy investment is a welcome sign, but much greater resources have to be mobilised and directed to clean energy technologies to put the world on track to reach net-zero emissions by 2050"

The International Energy Agency is inviting input from people around the world on ways government can make their clean energy policies more inclusive and equitable in order to maximise the benefits for the public. The contributions will help to inform the work of the Global Commission for People-Centred Clean Energy Transitions.

Take the survey here.

Established earlier this year and headed by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark, the Global Commission now has 29 members, including national leaders, ministers, top business executives and global thought leaders. They are examining how to enable citizens to benefit from the opportunities and navigate the disruptions inherent in the shift to a clean energy economy. The Commission will produce key recommendations in advance of COP26 in November.

As part of its activities, the Commission will host its first public webinar on 10 June at 14:00 CEST on the subject of Policies for People –...

Across the globe, nearly 800 million people live without any access to electricity – about 600 million of them in sub-Saharan Africa. In a world of deepening inequalities between the haves and have-nots, this is a glaring injustice. With cheap renewables and green investments following the pandemic, we can make energy poverty history within the next decade. Universal energy access by 2030 is possible, but we need to start making great strides, and soon. The International Energy Agency (IEA) and the European Union, therefore, invite other partners to join us in putting energy access at the centre of cooperation with Africa.

Lack of electricity inhibits those aspects of daily life that many of us take for granted. Electricity powers our economies: we need it in schools, offices, and hospitals, where it now refrigerates life-saving vaccines. We need to expand electricity access on an industrial scale to enable families in sub-Saharan Africa to aspire to the same standard of...

"There is no shortage of money worldwide, but it is not finding its way to where it is most needed. Governments need to give international public finance institutions a strong strategic mandate to finance clean energy transitions in the developing world."

"There is no shortage of money worldwide, but it is not finding its way to where it is most needed. Governments need to give international public finance institutions a strong strategic mandate to finance clean energy transitions in the developing world."

Firms with more women at the senior executive level outperform those with lower representation. Yet, historically women have been consistently under-represented in senior managerial positions and in the boardroom across all industries, and even more so in energy-related sectors.

According to an OECD/IEA analysis of data from just under 2 500 firms classified in energy-related sectors, women make up just under 14% of senior managers, with representation strongest in the utility sector. Excluding utilities, women hold less than 12% of leadership roles. This compares with 15.5% of the 30 000 non-energy firms in the sample.

It has been well-documented that women in leadership positions enable companies to maximise the power of diverse perspectives and innovative decision making, which improves the overall success of a firm’s performance. S&P 500 companies with women in senior management above the median saw a 30% higher return on equity and a 30% lower...

Global

After a decade of rapid growth, in 2020 the global electric car stock hit the 10 million mark, a 43% increase over 2019, and representing a 1% stock share. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for two-thirds of new electric car registrations and two-thirds of the stock in 2020. China, with 4.5 million electric cars, has the largest fleet, though in 2020 Europe had the largest annual increase to reach 3.2 million.

Overall the global market for all types of cars was significantly affected by the economic repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic. The first part of 2020 saw new car registrations drop about one-third from the preceding year. This was partially offset by stronger activity in the second-half, resulting in a 16% drop overall year-on-year. Notably, with conventional and overall new car registrations falling, global electric car sales share rose 70% to a record 4.6% in 2020.

About 3 million new electric cars...

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol congratulated the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations for their landmark Summit at which they committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 and made a series of other significant energy and climate pledges. 

G7 leaders concluded the closely watched Summit on Sunday, issuing a communiqué in which they set out their net zero commitments and called on all countries, in particular major emitting economies, “to join us in these goals as part of a global effort.” In this context, the leaders noted the IEA’s “clear roadmap” for achieving net zero globally by 2050. 

“I’m very proud to see recognition of the IEA’s comprehensive Roadmap for the global energy sector to reach this critical and formidable goal,” said Dr Birol. “The IEA looks forward to helping governments design and implement the strong policy actions that are needed to move the world onto a narrow yet achievable pathway to net zero by 2050. In the...

Modern and sustainable forms of bioenergy play an important role in our new special report on how the global energy sector can reach net-zero emissions by 2050, which also examines bioenergy’s advantages and limitations in efforts to address climate change by limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 °C.

Bioenergy is a versatile renewable energy source that can be used in all sectors, and it can often make use of existing transmission and distribution systems and end-user equipment. But there are constraints on expanding the supply of bioenergy, and possible trade-offs with sustainable development goals, including avoiding conflicts at local level with other uses of land, notably for food production and biodiversity protection.

To navigate these risks, our Roadmap to Net Zero by 2050 combined for the first time the IEA’s global energy system modelling with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)’s Global Biosphere Management...

Despite pandemic-induced supply chain challenges and construction delays, renewable capacity additions in 2020 expanded by more than 45% from 2019, and broke another record. An exceptional 90% rise in global wind capacity additions led the expansion. Also underpinning this record growth was the 23% expansion of new solar PV installations to almost 135 GW in 2020.

Policy deadlines in China, the United States and Viet Nam spurred an unprecedented boom in renewable capacity additions in 2020. China alone was responsible for over 80% of the increase in annual installations from 2019 to 2020, as onshore wind and solar PV projects contracted under China’s former FIT scheme, and those awarded in previous central or provincial competitive auctions, had to be connected to the grid by the end of 2020. In the United States, wind power developers rushed to complete their projects before expiration of the production tax credit (PTC), although it was extended for...

"The rebound in energy investment is a welcome sign, but much greater resources have to be mobilised and directed to clean energy technologies to put the world on track to reach net-zero emissions by 2050"

"The rebound in energy investment is a welcome sign, but much greater resources have to be mobilised and directed to clean energy technologies to put the world on track to reach net-zero emissions by 2050"

"The rebound in energy investment is a welcome sign, but much greater resources have to be mobilised and directed to clean energy technologies to put the world on track to reach net-zero emissions by 2050"