IEA charts course to zero emissions

To reach a zero carbon world by 2050 requires an unprecedented global transformation of how energy is used, transported, and produced. Tomorrow, the IEA will publish their latest insights on how to transition to a net zero energy system and deliver this transformation worldwide.

The report, Net Zero by 2050: a Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector, is expected to set out additional detail on the critical and urgent need for bold innovation, policy, and massive-scale investment to deploy clean technologies and practices across the major sectors of the economy that drive global energy demand.

It will be the first time that the IEA puts forward a set of pathways for reducing emissions from the energy sector to reach net zero by 2050. It contributes to the growing body of work that seeks to better understand the actions needed, from governments and in the real economy, to get on course to a zero emission world within each sector of the global economy.

The Climate Champions and the Marrakech Partnership  – an ecosystem of more than 300 institutions, and coalitions of regions, cities, businesses and investors convened by the UN High Level Climate Champions – are eager to see and engage with these results to continue to inform the efforts that non-state actors are taking to accelerate the Race to Zero.

Over the course of the past two years, the Marrakech Partnership has published the Climate Action Pathways as the actionable roadmaps to collectively achieve net zero emissions and deliver the promise of the Paris Agreement. These draw from previous IEA analysis and others, and incorporate insights and lessons learned from across the non-state actor community, and set out an ambitious path for achieving net zero globally, all of which form the basis of their efforts to achieve major sectoral breakthroughs by COP26.

As the UN High Level Climate Champions, we will continue to engage stakeholders and encourage active discussion and convergence around the pathways to a healthier, more resilient, zero carbon world, specifically identifying the actions and policies that will deliver the breakthroughs required across the global economy to halve emissions by 2030 as well as longer term through to 2050.

This ongoing work will build on the conclusions of the IEA Net Zero Roadmap and the sectoral insights developed through each of the industry and academic coalitions the Marrakech Partnership has built – with the goal of bringing together leading players from across sectoral value chains to align on transition pathways.

Achieving a net zero world in time will not be possible without radical collaboration across the ecosystem of government and non-state actors, enabling an ‘ambition loop’ of faster climate action.

Beyond this report, and the work of the Marrakech Partnership, we can achieve much more together – by strengthening the collaboration between major government and private sector initiatives that we know is vital to accelerate the pace of transition within each sector.