Global energy-related CO2 emissions hit record high in 2023: IEA

LONDON -- Global energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) hit a record high last year, driven partly by increased fossil fuel use in countries where droughts hampered hydropower production, International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday. "Far from falling rapidly - as is required to meet the global climate goals set out in the Paris Agreement - CO2 emissions reached a new record high," the IEA said in a report. Global emissions from energy rose by 410 million tonnes, or 1.1 percent, in 2023 to 37.4 billion tonnes, the IEA analysis showed. "Without this effect, emissions from the global electricity sector would have fallen in 2023," the IEA said. China, however, also contributed around 60 percent of global additions of solar, wind power and electric vehicles in 2023, the IEA said.