Summary of Latest Data

Fossil Fuel Production

In 2022, coal production reached a record high, oil production was 99% of the record level (set in 2019), and gas production was 99.8% of the record level (set in 2021)¹.

Only nine countries produced a 5% or greater share of a fossil fuel in 2022: China, India, Indonesia, the US, Australia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and Iran¹.

“Fossil fuels benefited from record subsidies of $13 million (£10.3m) per minute in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), despite being the primary cause of the climate crisis”².

“The IMF analysis found the total subsidies for oil, gas and coal in 2022 were $7tn (£5.5tn). That is equivalent to 7% of global GDP and almost double what the world spends on education. Explicit subsidies, which cut the price of fuels for consumers, doubled”².

Fossil Fuel Dependance

The share of fossil fuels in the world energy system was 82% in 2022³, having reduced 11% since 1965, and only 4% since year 2000⁴.

The share of electricity in global energy consumption (i.e. final energy) in 2021 was only 8% higher than that in 1990⁵, and the share of fossil fuelled electricity generation was only 2% less, having lost share to biofuels and waste. The share of low-carbon electricity generation remained the same⁵.

This is all despite the passing of 28 UNFCCC climate conferences⁶.

The Energy Transition

Between year 1965 and 2000, nuclear and hydro electricity partially decarbonised the world energy system^{7 8}.

Over the subsequent 16 years from 2001 to 2016, humanity made no further progress, and since 2020 global decarbonisation has stalled^{8 9}.

Global Energy Supply

The global supply of energy reached a record high, delivered by record high supplies of energy from both fossil fuels and low-carbon fuels¹⁰.

Signifcant amounts of fossil fuels continued to be added to the world energy system; a third of the energy added in 2022 was fossil fuelled¹¹.

Oil Consumption

In 2022, humanity consumed oil at a rate equivalent to 622 million litres per hour continuously (157 million US gallons per hour)¹². This was an increase of 27 million litres per hour over the rate in 2021 of 595 million litres per hour.

Electricity

61% of electricity generation was fossil fuelled in 2022¹³.

Coal and gas fired electricity generation both reached record highs in 2021, and again in 2022¹⁴.

The share of electricity generation by low-carbon fuels in 2022 was roughly equivalent to the peak in 1995¹⁵.

27 years after the UNFCCC’s COP1⁶, the net change of electricity generation was that fossil fuels and low-carbon fuels lost share to the categories ‘Geothermal, Biomass and Other Renewables’ and ‘Other’¹⁶.

Global Warming

Relative to the 1850–1900 pre-industrial baseline, global warming in 2022 was estimated to be about 1.15°C, and the ten year average for the period 2013–2022 was estimated to be 1.14°C¹⁷.

A new study states global warming past 1.5˚C in 2020, is currently 1.7˚C, and 2˚C will be exceeded in the next few years^{18 19}.

“The new chief of the World Meteorological Organization said it looks to her that the rate of human-caused climate change is accelerating”²⁰. “2023’s record temperatures have some scientists concerned that the pace of warming may be accelerating. But not everyone agrees”²¹.

CO₂ Emissions

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from fossil fuels and cement in 2021 reached a record 36.85 billion tonnes, 86% of which originated from the world energy system²².

Humankind’s CO₂ emissions account for 80% of global warming since 1750, are the only rapidly increasing contributor, continue to grow with no peak in sight, at a rate unprecedented in the past 66 million years, and almost solely determine Earth’s long term warming commitment²³.

Atmospheric CO₂

The global average annual atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration reached a record 417.1ppm, increasing at a near record rate of 2.1ppm/year^{24 25}.

The most rapid natural change of CO₂ known with high confidence, ranged between 10–15ppm over 100–200 years (16,000, 15,000 and 12,000 years ago). This is equivalent to an average change of at most 0.15ppm/year, meaning that the increases of CO₂ in 2021 and 2022 were 14–16 times as rapid²⁶.

In the mid-Pliocene, 3 to 5 million years ago, the last time that Earth’s atmosphere contained 400ppm of CO₂, global mean surface temperature was 2 to 3˚C warmer than today, the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets melted, and even some of the East Antarctic ice was lost, leading to sea levels that were 10 to 20 metres higher than today²⁶.

During the mid-Miocene (15 to 17 million years ago), atmospheric CO₂ reached 400 to 650ppm and global mean surface temperature was 3 to 4˚C warmer than today²⁶.