Global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions rose by under one per cent in 2022 as the growth of solar, wind, electric vehicles, heat pumps and energy efficiency helped limit the impacts of increased use of coal and oil amid the global energy crisis, according to a new analysis by the International Energy Agency released March 2, 2023.

The rise in emissions last year was far smaller than the exceptional jump of over six per cent in 2021, according to an IEA statement.

However, the IEA report, titled CO2 Emissions in 2022, called for stronger actions to accelerate the clean energy transition and move the world onto a path towards meeting its energy and climate goals.

The report is the first in a new series, the Global Energy Transitions Stocktake, which will bring together the IEA’s latest analysis in one place, making it freely accessible in support of the first Global Stocktake in the lead-up to the COP28 Climate Change Conference in November.

Global energy-related CO2 emissions grew in 2022 by 0.9 per cent, or 321 million tonnes, reaching a new high of more than 36.8 billion tonnes, according to the report.

The rise in emissions was significantly slower than global economic growth of 3.2 per cent, signalling a return to a decade-long trend that was interrupted in 2021 by the rapid and emissions-intensive economic rebound from the Covid crisis.

Extreme weather events including droughts and heatwaves, as well as an unusually large number of nuclear power plants being offline, contributed to the rise in emissions. But an additional 550 million tonnes of emissions were avoided by increased deployment of clean energy technologies.

CO2 emissions from coal grew by 1.6 per cent as the global energy crisis continued to spur a wave of gas-to-coal switching in Asia and to a lesser degree in Europe.

While the increase in coal emissions was only around one-quarter of 2021’s rise, it still far exceeded the last decade’s average growth rate.

The increase in emissions from coal more than offset the 1.6 per cent decline in emissions from natural gas as supply continued to tighten following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and as European businesses and citizens responded with efforts to cut their gas use.

CO2 emissions from oil grew even more than those from coal, increasing by 2.5 per cent but still remaining below pre-pandemic levels. Around half of the year-on-year increase in oil’s emissions came from aviation as air travel continued to rebound from pandemic lows.

China’s emissions were broadly flat in 2022 as strict Covid-19 measures and declining construction activity led to weaker economic growth and reductions in industrial and transport emissions.

The European Union’s emissions fell by 2.5 per cent, thanks to record deployment of renewables helping ensure the use of coal was not as high as some observers had anticipated. A mild start to the European winter and energy savings measures in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also contributed.

In the United States, emissions grew by 0.8 per cent as buildings increased their energy consumption to cope with extreme temperatures. Excluding China, emissions from Asia’s emerging and developing economies increased by 4.2 per cent, reflecting their rapid economic and energy demand growth.

The global CO2 emissions numbers in the report are based on the IEA’s detailed region-by-region and fuel-by-fuel analysis, drawing on the latest official national data and publicly available energy, economic and weather data.

The report covers CO2 emissions from all energy combustion and industrial processes — and also includes information on methane and nitrous oxide emissions, providing complete picture of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in 2022.

#CO2emissions #globalenergycrisis #cleanenergy #IEA

The Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC) today (August 4) officially launched the Carbon Neutrality Publicity Campaign. The Campaign will cover a series of large-scale publicity activities in the next two years to raise public awareness on the imminence of climate change, and the need to reverse habits and reduce carbon together in energy saving, green transport and waste reduction at source in order to tackle climate change.

The Campaign, with funding support from the Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF), is organised by the ECC, and co-organised by the Environment and Ecology Bureau, the Environmental Protection Department and the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department. The objective of the Campaign is to encourage members of the public to act in line with the decarbonisation strategies proposed in the Hong Kong's Climate Action Plan 2050 promulgated by the Government in 2021. It is important for the public to start making changes in their daily habits in respect of clothing, food, living and travel to reduce carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Officiating at the launch ceremony at the City Gallery in Central, the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, kick-started the Campaign. In his speech, Mr Tse expounded on the decarbonisation strategies in the Hong Kong's Climate Action Plan 2050, and said that the Government will continue to develop zero-carbon energy, try using new energy solutions, and strengthen regional co-operation to achieve "net-zero power generation". To achieve the goals of zero vehicular emissions and zero carbon emissions in the transport sector in the longer term before 2050, the Government will continue promoting new energy transport including buses, light buses, taxis, goods vehicles and ferries, etc. As to waste reduction, the Government will carry on expanding the community recycling network to promote waste reduction at source and clean recycling, and develop a new generation of waste-to-energy facilities to reduce reliance on landfills. At the same time, the Government will prepare for the implementation of municipal solid waste charging.

Other officiating guests of the ceremony included the Chairman of the ECC, Professor Simon Wong; the Chairman of the ECF Committee, Dr Eric Cheng; the Convenor of the Education Working Group under the ECC, Mr Wong Chi-keung; and the Permanent Secretary for Environment and Ecology (Environment), Miss Janice Tse.

The ECC will roll out a series of publicity activities to the public to promote how to reduce carbon emissions, including broadcasting a new promotional video on TV and social media platforms. Premiered at the launch ceremony, the promotional video stresses the extreme climate change faced across the whole world, and appeals for public participation in committing to low carbon living by changing their habits and striving together for carbon neutrality by 2050.

After the launch ceremony, Mr Tse joined the guests to visit the carbon neutrality information kiosk at the City Gallery manned by student representatives of the Student Environmental Protection Ambassador Scheme organised by the ECC. The kiosk will be open to the public from August 5 until September 30.

#energysaving #greentransport #wastereduction #climatechange #reducecarbon #decarbonisation #carbonneutrality #zerocarbonemission

The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the Exchange), a wholly-owned subsidiary of HKEX, today published conclusions to its consultation on Proposals to Expand the Paperless Listing Regime and other Rule Amendments (Consultation Conclusions).

The Exchange received 63 non-duplicate responses from a broad range of respondents. All the proposals received support from a majority of respondents. The Exchange will adopt all the proposals outlined in the consultation paper with a number of minor modifications as set out in the Consultation Conclusions.

HKEX Head of Listing, Katherine Ng, said: “At HKEX, we are committed to adopting sustainable practices across our business operations. We are therefore delighted to implement all our proposals to expand our paperless listing regime, following a solidly-supported consultation response. The new Listing Rule amendments will significantly reduce the use of paper and improve the efficiency of our regulatory processes, modernising and upgrading communication between issuers, investors and other participants.”

“These enhancements are the latest in our market digitalisation initiatives as we Connect Today with Tomorrow. We look forward to continuing to drive these and other modernisation initiatives forward, including the current work being undertaken to explore the development of a new prospectus authorisation and registration process,” Ms Ng added.

Key changes to the Listing Rules include:

the reduction in the number of submission documents; and mandatory submission by electronic means; the mandatory electronic dissemination of corporate communications by listed issuers to the extent permitted by the laws and regulations; and the simplification of the appendices to the Listing Rules. Most of the amended Listing Rules will take effect on 31 December 2023 with transitional arrangements for certain issuers as set out in the Consultation Conclusions.

Minor and housekeeping amendments to the Listing Rules, as set out in the Consultation Conclusions, will come into effect on 8 July 2023.

#HKEX #paperless #electronic dissemination #digitalisation