The International Energy Agency (IEA)released its new World Energy Outlook Special Report on Energy and Climate Change on Monday, June 15. The said report aims to aid key persons as they work through their policies for the upcoming 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris on December 2015.
The executive summary report acknowledges that in the past year, minimal energy use and boost in economic growth were observed to take place even in their simultaneous presence - a first for the IEA since it was assigned to monitor energy usage of developed nations in the 1970s. The Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) devised and submitted by the participating countries may vary but it will similarly exhibit contributions to the betterment of the energy sector. The IEA aims to obtain support from political leaders so that a concise plan of action toward continuous global and national low-carbon development may be sustained through the COP21. With this, the IEA recommends four pillars that can help to make this goal possible.
The four pillars include:
Peak in Emissions
The IEA recommends the political leaders set the conditions that can best achieve the peak of energy-related emission all over the world as early as 2020. This can be achieved through a "Bridging Scenario," which pertains to the usage of existing technologies and policies, without altering economic outlooks of the regions. This aims to maintain decarbonization of the energy sector for a long time. There are five measures involved in the attainment of the Bridging Scenario, which include accelerating energy efficiency in the construction, transportation and industry fields, gradually decreasing and banning power plants that use coal and less efficient energy methods, boosting investments in renewable energies, slowly eliminating fossil-fuel subsidies to end-users and decreasing methane emission in gas and oil development.
Five-Year Revision
Regular analysis of contribution should be made to extend the scope of aim to higher level. As technologies improve and effects of low-carbon efforts are realized, this pillar is said to strengthen the commitment to aim for more ambitious objectives.
Locking In On the Vision
The IEA recommends unwavering focus on the vision by devising short-term commitments and interventions that can help to achieve the bigger goal. The short-term goal is to stay below the 2°C climate limit and the long-term vision is to improve emissions for an extended period of time.
Tracking the Transition
Staying within the goals of the project is the way for continuous progress. Therefore, the IEA highly advises that an effective and concrete way to monitor the development of nationally-specified mitigation goals must be devised. Tangible evidences will powerfully convince nations and energy sectors that interventions and efforts are harmoniously taking effect.
The challenge for the toward achieving a 2°C climate goal may sound tough but a vision to strongly decarbonize the energy sector for a long period of time is set, making short-term commitments a reality. "The world must quickly learn to live within its means if this generation is to pass it on to the next with a clear conscience," concludes the executive summary report.
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