To have a chance of achieving Paris Agreement goals, the world must decrease oil and gas production and consumption by 30% by 2030, the International Institute for Sustainable Development said. Production from already-licensed oil and gas fields will release carbon emissions well beyond what is consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C. No new oil and gas fields should be developed, no exploration should be conducted, and some fields will have to be retired before the end of their economic lifetime, the think tank said. Meanwhile, wind and solar technologies have the biggest potential to mitigate GHG emissions by 2030 at the lowest cost, the IISD said, with capacity addition needing to increase by an average of 18% and 19%, respectively, each year. The findings are based on the energy pathways set out in the final part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s sixth assessment report, published in April. The Paris Agreement of 2015 set out a global framework to limit global warming to well below 2°C, and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.
