PARIS: Energy investments should be informed by the COP28 agreement to accelerate the move away from fossil fuels this decade, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.

“After COP28, governments, companies, investors, need to tell the people around the world what actions they are taking to move the world away from fossil fuels,” Executive Director Fatih Birol told Reuters.

Earlier this week at the climate summit in Dubai, governments agreed to transition away from fossil fuels to avert the worst of climate change.

Countries are increasingly “making a clear link between the high use of fossil fuels and the extreme weather events,” Birol said.

The COP28 agreement included some of the recommendations the IEA had been pushing previously, including the tripling of renewable energy capacity, and doubling of energy efficiency by 2030, but did not address how to finance the clean energy transition in developing countries, Birol said.

“This is the main challenge for Baku, COP29, which will be the top priority for the International Energy Agency to discuss with the global leaders and the presidency of COP29,” said Birol, referring to next year’s summit in Azerbaijan.

On Thursday, the IEA revised up its forecast for oil demand next year, signalling that the outlook for near-term oil use remains robust.

The IEA forecasts that oil, gas, and coal demand will peak by 2030, however, as more drivers switch to electric cars, and the world shifts to low-carbon energy.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2023