It’s time to take action and kick our coal habit, according to IEA Head

The head of the world’s energy watchdog has said that eliminating our dependence on coal needs to be a priority before we can achieve our green recovery.

Fatih Birol, energy economist and executive director of International Energy Agency (IEA) says:

“Our data indicates a strong rebound in China’s emissions in the second half of 2020. From April onward, monthly emissions in China surpassed the levels of 2019. If this strong trend is confirmed through December, Chinese emissions for the whole of 2020 may well catch up with the 2019 level, despite the sharp decline in the first quarter of 2020.”

This is off the back of China having approved new coal-fired energy generation in the first half of last year. According to the Centre for Research on Clean Air, China is the world’s biggest emitter of emissions from coal.

Joe Biden to make $2 trillion investment into renewables

Day one of Biden’s time in office has seen him making a bold step in the right direction, by re-joining the Paris agreement. In his first 100 days in office, Biden has pledged to bring together the leaders of major greenhouse gas-emitting nations in a climate world summit. He hopes to persuade them to join the US in making ambitious targets and pledges, above and beyond the initial commitments they have already agreed to.

The launch of Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ plan sees him stepping up national efforts to create jobs that will enable a sustainable, clean energy future. It’s expected that he will make a $2 trillion accelerated investment over the course of his first term, some of which will go towards driving innovation and cost reductions in critical clean energy technologies, including renewable hydrogen.

This afternoon, I’ll be taking action to meet the climate crisis with the urgency it demands. Tune in. https://t.co/TaCmltDZ6X

— President Biden (@POTUS) January 27, 2021