(Paris) Rise of the electric vehicle, hydrogen or low-carbon electricity: international cooperation must accelerate to allow the transition of the most emitting sectors and meet international climate commitments, advocates a report commissioned on Tuesday during COP26.
Posted at 7:18 p.m.
At last year’s climate conference in Glasgow, 45 countries pledged to focus on international collaboration to deploy greener solutions across multiple industries: electricity, ground transportation, steel, hydrogen and agriculture. The idea is to make environmentally friendly technologies more affordable, especially for poorer countries.
The follow-up report released Tuesday under the aegis of the International Energy Agency (IEA) notes progress, but concludes that “much greater international cooperation is needed to put the world on track to meet its climate commitments.
“We see a major challenge, which is that of collaboration between countries and sectors”, underlined the director general of the IEA, Fatih Birol, during a presentation of the report to the press.
“Without this international collaboration, the transition to net zero emissions will be much more difficult and could be delayed for decades,” he fears.
The five sectors of activity in question were chosen because they represent nearly 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions. They could provide most of the effort needed by 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5°C, in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The report, which makes a total of 25 recommendations, focuses in particular on a sector where notable progress has been recorded according to him, that of land transport, with a doubling of sales of electric vehicles in 2021.
To go further, the authors advocate a common international timetable for the end of thermal vehicles, a harmonization of standards in batteries or even a financial mobilization in favor of charging infrastructures in developing countries.
On the electricity side, they encourage the creation of cross-border “super-grids” to promote the exchange of low-carbon electricity (from renewable sources in particular) or the creation of international centers of expertise to help the transition countries that still use coal.
Other proposals include, for example, the commitment of public and private players to buy “zero carbon” steel to encourage the sector.