global energy-related CO2 emissions hit new record in 2023

The 2023 results were weighed down by a record decline in global hydroelectric production linked to the severe and prolonged droughts which affected several regions of the world.

A worrying record for global warming. Global energy-related CO2 emissions increased by 1.1% in 2023 to reach a historic level, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced on Friday March 1 on its website. This figure is explained in particular by the low hydroelectric production caused by droughts and by Chinese growth. China, by adding 565 million tonnes of CO2 to the global balance, has in fact continued its emissions-rich economic growth, initiated after the Covid-19 crisis.

Energy emissions, which represent around 90% of carbon dioxide emitted by human activities, increased by 410 million tonnes to reach 37.4 billion tonnes last year, according to the reference balance sheet of the AIE, based in Paris. The trend, however, appears less bad than the previous year, since emissions increased by 490 million tonnes in 2022.

A glimmer of hope for clean energy

The 2023 figures are not going in the right direction, while greenhouse gas emissions, all sectors combined, must fall by 43% by 2030 compared to 2019, according to the IPCC, to hope to maintain the limit of 1.5°C of global warming, set by the Paris agreement.

Some good news though: “the transition to clean energy”, Who “continues quickly and slows down emissions”, according to the executive director of the IEA, Fatih Birol. Between 2019 and 2023, energy-related emissions increased by some 900 million tonnes, but this figure would have been three times greater without the deployment of five key technologies: solar, wind, nuclear, heat pumps and electric cars, underlines the IEA in another report.

Since the 19th century, the Earth’s average temperature has warmed by 1.1°C. Scientists have established with certainty that this increase is due to human activities, which consume fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas). This warming, unprecedented in its speed, threatens the future of our societies and biodiversity. But solutions – renewable energies, sobriety, reduced meat consumption – exist. Discover our answers to your questions about the climate crisis.