Asia rejects IEA’s call to curb new oil, gas, coal investments

By Nneka Nwogwugwu

Asian energy officials on Wednesday rejected a call from the International Energy Agency (IEA) for no new oil, natural gas and coal investments for the world to be able to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The IEA, which has previously championed the oil and gas industry, outlined a path to net-zero emissions that suggested stopping new investments in oil, gas and coal supply, retiring coal-fired plants in advanced economies by 2030, and banning sales of new internal combustion engine cars by 2035.

Energy companies in Australia, the biggest carbon emitter per capita among the world’s richest nations, and officials in Japan and the Philippines said there were many ways to get to net zero, even as the IEA said its pathway was “the most technically feasible, cost-effective and socially acceptable.”

Akihisa Matsuda, the deputy director of international affairs at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, told Aljazeera that the government has no plans to immediately stop oil, gas and coal investments.

“The report provides one suggestion as to how the world can reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, but it is not necessarily in line with the Japanese government’s policy,” he said.

“Japan needs to protect its energy security including a stable supply of electricity, so we will balance this with our goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.”

Japan was the region’s third-largest carbon emitter in 2019, after China and India, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.