MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2020) The global energy efficiency progress, a measure of achievement in global climate goals, is headed for a decline this year as it may show growth of only 0.8 percent for the current year, its lowest rate since 2010, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report on Thursday.
"With global GDP falling by 4.6 percent, Primary energy intensity improvement is projected to increase by only 0.8 percent, the lowest rate since just after the last global economic crisis in 2010. This is well below the average annual improvement of more than 3 percent which would be consistent with meeting international climate and sustainability goals," the IEA said a new report on energy efficiency.
Thus, the downward trend continues as the energy efficiency progress has been in decline since 2015, while in 2019 it showed growth of only 1.6 percent and in 2018 of 1.5 percent, the agency noted.
"It is especially worrying because energy efficiency delivers more than 40 percent of the reduction in energy-related greenhouse gas emissions over the next 20 years in the IEA's Sustainable Development Scenario, which shows how to put the world on track to achieve international climate and energy goals in full," the IEA report said.
Even though sales of new cars this year will decline by over 10 percent, the share of electric vehicles in new car sales is expected to grow by 3.2 percent, a 0.7 percentage point increase from last year, according to the report.
The energy efficiency progress is crucial for the global community if it wants to reduce carbon footprint and cut down emissions in accordance with the 2015 Paris Agreement. The accord ambitiously seeks to bring all nations into the common cause of combating climate change and keep the global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) � ideally by 1.5 degrees Celsius � above pre-industrial levels. The deal has no compliance mechanism.
