Global carbon emissions from the energy sector hit a record high in 2024, marking the fourth consecutive year of rising emissions, according to the Energy Institute’s annual statistical review released Thursday. The continued reliance on fossil fuels overshadowed unprecedented growth in renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
Amid global energy supply disruptions—sparked by the ongoing war in Ukraine and escalating tensions in the Middle East—the report underscores the challenge of phasing out fossil fuels in favor of clean energy. Last year also marked the hottest year ever recorded, with global temperatures surpassing 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for the first time.
The report highlighted a 2% increase in total global energy supply across all sources—oil, gas, coal, nuclear, hydro, and renewables—the first such rise across the board since 2006. This broad-based growth drove carbon emissions to a new high of 40.8 gigatonnes, a 1% increase over 2023 levels.
Among fossil fuels, natural gas led the increase with a 2.5% rise in global generation. Coal usage grew by 1.2%, maintaining its position as the largest source of global energy generation, while oil saw less than 1% growth.
In contrast, wind and solar energy expanded by 16%, growing nearly nine times faster than overall energy demand. Despite this impressive surge, experts warn that the transition is not moving quickly enough.
Romain Debarre of consultancy Kearney, one of the authors of the report, described 2024 as “another turning point for global energy, driven by rising geopolitical tensions.” Wafa Jafri, partner at KPMG, added that although renewables are growing fast, the pace falls short of targets set at COP28, where nations pledged to triple global renewable capacity by 2030 and phase down fossil fuels.
The Energy Institute, together with KPMG and Kearney, took over authorship of the global energy review from BP in 2023. Their latest findings highlight that without accelerated action, the global energy system risks missing critical carbon emission reduction goals needed to achieve net-zero by 2050.