Countries will double fossil fuels production by 2030: UNEP

The U.N. Environment Programme's (UNEP) annual production gap report, released on Wednesday, shows that major economies will produce twice the amount of coal, oil and gas by 2030.

“The devastating impacts of climate change are here for all to see. There is still time to limit long-term warming to 1.5°C, but this window of opportunity is rapidly closing,” says Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP in a press statement. “At COP26 and beyond, the world’s governments must step up, taking rapid and immediate steps to close the fossil fuel production gap and ensure a just and equitable transition. This is what climate ambition looks like.”

The report measures the differences between governments’ planned fossil fuel production and global production levels consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C. 

The report analysed 15 major fossil fuel producers, said that collectively they plan to produce around 110 percent more fossil fuels in 2030.

The 2021 Production Gap Report provides country profiles for 15 major producer countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 

The country profiles show that most of these governments continue to provide significant policy support for fossil fuel production, they explained.

“Governments’ production plans and projections would lead to about 240 percent more coal, 57 percent more oil, and 71percent more gas in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C,” said the UNEP in the statement.

Global gas production is projected to increase the most between 2020 and 2040 based on governments’ plans,as countries have directed over US $300 billion in new funds towards fossil fuel activities since the beginning of the COVID-19.