Puffing Away Any Benefit?

After the positive stories of a Covid-19 pandemic-induced improvement in air quality, it is sobering to hear the conclusions of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) latest report (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/02/fossil-fuel-emissions-in-danger-of-surpassing-pre-covid-levels). Many people, concerned about climate change, had hoped that the world's energy-related emissions would have peaked in 2019. After all, the pandemic resulted in the deepest fall in carbon dioxide output since the end of World War 2. Fossil fuel emissions, however, rocketed in the second half of 2020. The IEA now say there is a high probability that, in their latest annual figures, the energy industry's carbon emissions will surpass those of pre-pandemic levels. In the report, there was a distinction between countries, restarting their economies with stimulus packages, designed to have a net environmental benefit and those that simply recommenced operations. The former include France, Germany, Spain and the UK. The latter have Brazil, China, India and the US as members. Pretty obviously, the second group consists of much bigger 'players'. Let's hope that COP-26 changes the over-all picture.