2024 may be remembered as a pivotal moment in China’s campaign to tackle climate change. In its annual World Energy Outlook, released last week, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projected that China’s fossil fuel use would peak next year and start to fall in 2025.
“We are at the turning point for China’s energy future,” said Laura Cozzi, the director of sustainability, technology, and outlooks at the IEA, who co-led the project.
China has accounted for nearly one-third of annual carbon dioxide emissions in recent years, so a turning point for China is also a turning point for the world. The IEA projects that China’s 2024 fossil fuel peak will be followed by a peak in its carbon emissions the next year, which would, in turn, allow global emissions to peak around the same time.
