IEA Report: Clean global tech collaboration necessary to retain climate goals

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a Report recently that global efforts to reduce emissions and curb rising temperatures are threatened by a lack of collaboration between countries in sharing and developing new technology, according to Reuters.
Major economies around the world such as the United States, and European countries are seeking to reach net zero emissions by 2050 to try to limit a rise in global temperatures well below 2 degrees Celsius, requiring huge changes in energy production, transportation and food production.
In a statement with the first Breakthrough Agenda report, by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the U.N. Climate Change High-Level Champions, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said: “Through international collaboration, we can make the transition quicker, cheaper and easier for everyone. Without this collaboration, the transition to net zero emissions will be much more challenging and could be delayed by decades.” 
The IEA report said collaboration needed to ramp up and made 25 recommendations including increasing cross-border power super grids to support cross-country trading in low-carbon power such as wind and solar. It also said countries should agree on a common date by which all new vehicles should be zero-emission, such as electric vehicles, suggesting 2035 for cars and vans and 2040 for heavy-duty vehicles. This will send a clear signal to the industry and unlock larger economies of scale and faster cost reductions, making the transition more affordable for all countries. Countries should also work to increase the production of low-carbon steel to over 100 million tonnes by 2030 from less than 1 million tonnes today.
The Report was requested by world leaders at last year’s COP climate conference in Glasgow Scotland to help align actions and scale up investment in technology in five major sectors like power, road transport, steel, hydrogen and agriculture that account for around 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished