NEW From yearning for a change to cost of living, why some Canadians have left or may leave the country
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
Investment in renewable energy needs to triple by the end of the decade if the world hopes to effectively fight climate change and keep volatile energy markets under control, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.
"The world is not investing enough to meet its future energy needs ... transition‐related spending is gradually picking up, but remains far short of what is required to meet rising demand for energy services in a sustainable way," the IEA said.
"Clear signals and direction from policy makers are essential. If the road ahead is paved only with good intentions, then it will be a bumpy ride indeed," it added.
The Paris-based watchdog released its annual World Energy Outlook early this year to guide the United Nations COP26 climate change conference, now less than a month away.
It called the Glasgow, Scotland meeting the "first test of the readiness of countries to submit new and more ambitious commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement" and "an opportunity to provide an 'unmistakeable signal' that accelerates the transition to clean energy worldwide."
In recent weeks, power prices surged to record levels as oil and natural gas prices hit multi-year highs and widespread energy shortages engulfed Asia and Europe.
Fossil fuel demand is also recovering as governments ease curbs to contain the spread of COVID-19.
The IEA warned that renewables like solar, wind and hydropower along with bioenergy need to form a far bigger share in the rebound in energy investment after the pandemic.
"We are witnessing an unsustainable economic recovery here," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told reporters at a virtual press conference on Wednesday.
"We see fossil fuels are growing very strongly and the prices are high, putting a break on economic growth."
Renewables will account for more than two-thirds of investment in new power capacity this year, the IEA noted, yet a sizeable gain in coal and oil use have caused the second largest annual increase in climate change-causing CO2 emissions.
The IEA said a faster energy transition will better shield consumers in the future, because a commodity price shock would drive up costs for households 30% less in its most ambitious Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) scenario versus in its more conservative Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS).
STATUS QUO VERSUS NET ZERO
Still, the leap necessary to make good on pledges in the 2015 Paris Agreement to cap the rise in temperatures to as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times remains vast.
Fossil fuels coal, natural gas and oil made up nearly 80% of world energy supply in 2020 and renewables just 12%.
To keep that rise near 1.5 degrees, the IEA's NZE prediction envisions those fossil fuels shrinking to just under a quarter of the mid-century supply mix and renewables skyrocketing to just over two-thirds.
If the world stays on its current track outlined by STEPS scenario, temperatures will jump 2.6 degrees Celsius by 2100.
The IEA foresees a peak to oil demand in all its scenarios for the first time, in the mid‐2030s in the STEPS forecast with a very gradual decline but in the NZE forecast plateauing within a decade and dropping further by nearly three-quarters by 2050.
Doubling down on the agency's starkest warning yet on the future of fossil fuels that it made in a May report, the IEA said its NZE picture envisioned lower demand and a rise in low emissions fuels making new oil and gas fields beyond 2021 unnecessary.
However, it did say new oil fields would be required in its two most conservative scenarios and provided tips on mitigating their climate impact like reducing methane flaring.
"Every data point showing the speed of change in energy can be countered by another showing the stubbornness of the status quo," the IEA warned.
"Today's energy system is not capable of meeting these challenges; a low emissions revolution is long overdue."
(Reporting by Noah Browning; Editing by David Gregorio)
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
Forging ahead with increasing Canada's capital gains inclusion rate 'sows division,' and is a 'shortsighted' way to improve the deficit, business groups are warning Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
A Canadian diplomat and an RCMP officer heaped praise and gratitude on a sanctioned Haitian businessman that Global Affairs accuses of gangland connections, after he allowed a helicopter airlift of Canadian citizens and police at his luxury golf course last month, emails provided by his lawyers suggest.
A Saskatchewan boy who qualified for an international braille competition in Los Angeles next month hopes he can inspire change in his home province.
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
An immigration lawyer in Toronto says new figures from the federal government show just how 'grudging' Ottawa's efforts have been to rescue Canadians' family members from the war in the Gaza Strip.
Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Canucks scored three third-period goals to claw out a 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday.
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.