Fitch Reports: Global Economy's Decarbonisation Moving Far Too Slowly

The transition to a decarbonized global economy is happening too slowly, according to a report by Fitch Ratings released on Wednesday. While significant progress has been seen in major developed nations, emerging markets have made no substantial reductions in emissions.

Global CO2 emissions increased by 1.8% last year, while global GDP grew by 2.9%, the report noted. The ratio of emissions to GDP dropped by just over 1%, consistent with the average decline over the past 25 years, but far from the 8% annual reduction needed between 2020 and 2030 to meet the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Fitch highlighted that emissions from 10 developed economies reached their lowest levels since 1970. However, in 10 emerging markets tracked by Fitch, both CO2 emissions and GDP grew by 4.7% last year, showing a lack of progress towards decarbonization.

"The slow progress in emerging markets is particularly worrying given their faster GDP growth and increasing share of global energy consumption," the report stated. Underinvestment in clean energy projects, especially outside of China, was identified as a major factor in the poor decarbonization performance of these markets.