Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions rose less strongly in 2023 than the year before even as total energy demand growth accelerated, but without clean energy technologies, the global increase in emissions in the last five years would have been three times larger.

The analysis from the IEA shows that the continued expansion of solar PV, wind, nuclear power and electric cars is helping the world avoid greater emissions, although they did still increase by 410 million tonnes, or 1.1 per cent, in 2023 taking them to a record level of 37.4 billion tonnes due to exception circumstances.

An exceptional shortfall in hydropower due to extreme droughts in China, the US and several other economies resulted in over 40 per cent of the rise in emissions in 2023 as countries turned largely to fossil fuel alternatives to plug the gap. Had it not been for the unusually low hydropower output, global CO2 emissions from electricity generation would have declined last year, making the overall rise in energy-related emissions significantly smaller.

The findings come from IEA’s annual review of global energy-related emissions – and the inaugural edition of a new series, the Clean Energy Market Monitor, which provides timely tracking of clean energy deployment for a select group of technologies and outlines the implications for global energy markets more broadly.

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