• Despite record green energy, emissions hit all-time high

• Fossil fuels still account for 80% of energy use

• UN says emissions must drop 42% by 2030 for 1.5°C goal
  

Global carbon dioxide emissions continued rising in 2024 despite a record year for new solar and wind capacity, according to the World Energy Review 2025 published on Oct. 22 by Italian oil major Eni.

The report said global primary energy consumption rose by 2% to about 15.5 billion tonnes of oil equivalent.

Meanwhile, fossil fuels still dominated the global energy mix at 80%, with oil accounting for 30%, coal 28%, and natural gas 23%. Renewables represented less than 3% of global consumption, Eni’s data showed.

The imbalance persisted even as new green energy installations hit a record 585 GW in 2024, up from 510 GW in 2023, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Solar accounted for 452 GW of that growth and wind 113 GW, but the expansion was uneven, with Africa adding only 0.7%.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) echoed the trend in its Global Energy Review 2025, noting that while global energy demand grew 2.2% and electricity demand 4.3%, clean technologies prevented 2.6 gigatonnes of emissions. Even so, energy-related emissions hit a new peak of about 37.8 gigatonnes of CO₂ in 2024.

Eni’s findings matched those of the Energy Institute, which in June said renewables were being added to, rather than replacing, fossil fuels. The group said fossil fuel consumption rose slightly in 2024, delaying a global drop in emissions.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) issued a similar warning in its Emissions Gap Report 2024, reporting that greenhouse gas emissions reached 57.1 GtCO₂e in 2023 — a record high. To stay on a 1.5°C trajectory, the agency said, emissions must fall 42% by 2030.

Abdel-Latif Boureima