Global Trends in Energy and Emissions: Key Points for Policy Decision-Making

Abstract

How much progress is the world actually making in the shift away from fossil fuels and toward reducing global emissions? The energy transition, as this shift has been called, is decidedly underway: since 2001, more than $4 trillion of global investment has gone into expanding renewable energy. What, however, do global energy trends tell us has been achieved? This Task Force will assemble an accurate picture of global energy use and emissions for regions across the world, focusing on major emitting nations such as China, the European Union, India, Russia, and the United States. Aimed at giving realistic, usable advice to policy decision-makers, this report will analyze trends in light of recent energy policy decisions to identify the degree to which progress toward emissions reductions has or has not occurred and are set to occur in the next few decades.