Record growth in clean energy technology, including solar panels and electric vehicles, means it is still possible to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), the International Energy Agency (IEA) says. But the world needs to invest nearly $4.5 trillion per year in the transition to cleaner energy from the start of the next decade, up from spending of $1.8 trillion expected in 2023, the global energy watchdog added on Tuesday. Temperatures have hit record levels this year and global averages are 1.1C (2F) higher compared with the pre-industrial average.That compares with a goal set by the 2015 UN Paris Agreement to keep global temperature rises well below 2C, while pursuing efforts to limit them to 1.5C to prevent the most severe consequences of global warming, such as drought, floods and increased wildfires. Wealthy countries must now reach carbon neutrality about 2045, five years early, and China should speed up its timeline by a decade to 2050 to keep alive the Paris goal. “The world has already delayed too long to avoid hard choices,” the IEA said in an update to its Net Zero Roadmap, which proposes scenarios to reach net zero emissions by the middle of the century. The planet has already seen a crescendo of deadly and destructive extreme weather with the most vulnerable populations hit hardest. Despite this year’s extreme weather, politicians – mindful of the cost-of-living crisis and seeking re-election – have been backsliding on climate pledges. “Governments need to separate climate from geopolitics given the scale of the challenge at hand,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2023/9/26/energy-agency-praises-green-tech-advances-pushes-fossil-fuel-phaseout