IEA urges halt to fossil fuel investments to meet emissions targets

The International Energy Agency said on Tuesday that investment in fossil fuels must stop immediately in order to develop an energy sector with net-zero emissions by 2050.

In a statement released alongside its latest report, the Paris-based organization said achieving the net-zero target would require an “unprecedented transformation of how energy is produced, transported and used globally.”

It added that the current pledges made by governments and companies fell short of what was necessary to reach emissions targets.

According to the IEA’s roadmap to net-zero, over 400 "milestones" will need to be achieved if the 2050 goal is to be met. They include scrapping new sales of fossil fuel boilers by 2025 and ending sales of new internal combustion engine cars by 2035.

In addition, from now on there should be "no investment in new fossil fuel supply projects, and no further final investment decisions for new unabated coal plants."

The IEA plans for solar and wind power to become the leading electricity sources before the end of the decade and be accountable for almost 70% of generation by 2050.

"Our Roadmap shows the priority actions that are needed today to ensure the opportunity of net-zero emissions by 2050 — narrow but still achievable — is not lost," Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said in a statement.

"The scale and speed of the efforts demanded by this critical and formidable goal — our best chance of tackling climate change and limiting global warming to 1.5 °C — make this perhaps the greatest challenge humankind has ever faced."