Nations expanding fossil fuel production despite climate pledges: Report

Several countries are expanding fossil fuel production despite pledges to have net-zero emissions, according to a new report from a United Nations environmental agency.

Contrary to 151 national governments pledging net-zero emissions from fossil fuel production activities, the 2023 Production Gap Report, published Wednesday by the U.N. Environment Programme, found governments around the world will produce double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than what is needed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The report found global coal production will continue to increase until 2030, while oil and gas production will continue growing until at least 2050.

Coupled with the International Energy Agency’s latest forecasts suggesting the demand for coal, oil and gas will peak this decade regardless of new policies, the latest report suggests a “widening fossil fuel production gap over time,” the U.N. agency said.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called the report a “startling indictment of runaway climate carelessness,” and he said world leaders need to “save humanity from the worst impacts of climate chaos, and profit from the extraordinary benefits of renewable energy.”

“In other words, governments are literally doubling down on fossil fuel production. That spells double trouble for people and planet,” Guterres said in a statement.

While 17 of the 20 countries analyzed in the report pledged for net-zero emissions and have launched programs to cut emissions, researchers found none of the nations has “committed” to reducing coal, oil and gas production needed to reach the 1.5 degree Celsius global warming benchmark.

Guterres called on countries to phase out coal by 2030 in countries that belong to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED) and by 2040 elsewhere and urged the Group of 20 (G20) nations to lead the ending of licensing and funding for new oil and gas.

The findings come ahead of the U.N.‘s climate summit in Dubai later this month. Guterres said world leaders at the summit must send a clear signal “the fossil fuel age is out of gas — that its end is inevitable.”

The U.N. agency behind the report argued governments with the capacity to transition away from fossil fuels should work towards “more ambitious reductions” and help countries with more limited resources.

The push to curb global warming has heightened in recent months, especially after reports show 2023 is likely on track to be the hottest year on record by an estimated 1.4 degrees Celsius, or 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Under the Paris Agreement in 2015, the world agreed to try to limit future warming to a threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius — 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit — though this is for long-term temperature measurements rather than a single month or year. 

A report from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service found September of this year was the warmest on record, with scientists arguing the data comes as a warning sign for people and ecosystems.