2022 Global CO2 Emissions (IEA)

Our key takeaway: Global CO2 emissions are at an all time high in 2022 - breaking records and not in a good way. The International Energy Agency (IEA) states that climate change and geopolitical challenges we saw fuelled this worrying increase, at a time when we should be drastically cutting emissions. A few stats. Global energy-related CO2 emissions grew by 0.9% or 321 Mt in 2022, reaching a new high of over 36.8 Gt since 1900. Of the 321 Mt CO2 increase, 60 Mt CO2 can be attributed to cooling and heating demand in extreme weather and another 55 Mt CO2 to nuclear power plants being offline. Emissions from oil grew, with around half of the increase coming from aviation (as air travel continued to rebound from pandemic lows, nearing 80% of 2019 levels). Some good news though. Increased deployment of clean energy technologies such as renewables, electric vehicles, and heat pumps helped prevent an additional 550 Mt in CO2 emissions. And we are back to a decade-long trend of decoupling emissions and economic growth (CO2 growth in 2022 was well below global GDP growth of 3.2%) - a trend that was broken by 2021’s sharp rebound in emissions. For companies: keep your eye on the ball of rapid and deep science-based emission cuts - in a rights-respecting way. 

The International Energy Agency (IEA) published CO2 Emissions in 2022 (March 2023):

• Global CO2 emissions grew in 2022 to reach an all-time high: The report states that growth in emissions was lower than expected in 2022: “last year’s growth was much slower than 2021’s rebound of more than 6%.” However, total global emissions increased to break new records: “[g]lobal energy-related CO2 emissions grew by 0.9% or 321 Mt in 2022, reaching a new high of over 36.8 Gt.” More specifically, global CO2 emissions from coal reached a new all-time high – far exceeding the last decade’s average growth rate.

• Intersecting polycrises fuelled the growth in emissions: The report states that extreme weather and temperature changes are key factors in the growth of emissions: “Of the 321 Mt CO2 increase, 60 Mt CO2 can be attributed to cooling and heating demand in extreme weather.” The global energy crisis has also contributed to the emissions growth: “Amid a wave of gas-to-coal switching during the global energy crisis, CO2 emissions from coal grew by 1.6% or 243 Mt … reaching a new all-time high of almost 15.5 Gt.” In addition, the rebound in travel following Covid-19 has made a large impact: “Emissions from oil grew even more than emissions from coal, rising by 2.5% or 268 Mt to 11.2 Gt. Around half of the increase came from aviation, as air travel continued to rebound from pandemic lows, nearing 80% of 2019 levels.” However, not all developments have contributed to the growth in emissions; in fact, the expansion of renewables tempered the growth in emissions: “Increased deployment of clean energy technologies such as renewables, electric vehicles, and heat pumps helped prevent an additional 550 Mt in CO2 emissions.” Interestingly, “[r]enewables met 90% of last year’s global growth in electricity generation.”

• Regional differences in emissions growth were stark: At the more positive end of the spectrum, the EU “saw a 2.5% or 70 Mt reduction in CO2 emissions.” In China, “emissions were relatively flat in 2022, declining by 23 Mt or 0.2%.” This is in contrast to the US where “emissions grew by 0.8% or 36 Mt” due to extreme temperatures. More worrying is that “[e]missions from Asia’s emerging market and developing economies, excluding China, grew more than those from any other region in 2022, increasing by 4.2% or 206 Mt CO2” due to the increase in coal-fired power generation.