Three takeaways from UNEP’s “The Emissions Gap Report 2018”

A few days ago, the United Nations Environment Programme released the latest version of its annual global climate action assessment, “The Emissions Gap Report 2018.”

I picked up three takeaways from the report:

(A) “Global peaking of emissions by 2020 is crucial for achieving the temperature targets of the Paris Agreement” ⋯ [Yet,] “global emissions are not estimated to peak by 2030, let alone by 2020.”

(B) ⋯ “this original level of ambition [of the current Nationally Determined Contributions] needs to be roughly tripled for the 2 °C scenario and increased around fivefold for the 1.5 °C scenario.”

(C) “If international cooperative initiatives [of Non-state and Subnational Actors] are scaled up to their fullest potential, the impact could be ⋯ up to 19 GtCO₂e/year by 2030. If realized, this would be instrumental in bridging the emissions gap to 2 °C pathways.”


Figure Above: Explaining takeaways (A) and (B).


Figure Above: Explaining takeaway (C).

Source: UNEP. (2018). The Emissions Gap Report 2018. Nairobi, Kenya: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). [Full-text at http://j.mp/UNEP-EGR2018]

Share of Renewables in OECD Countries’ Energy Supply in 2017

X axis: Renewables/[Total Primary Energy Supply]
Y axis: Renewables/[Total Electricity]

http://j.mp/OECD-Renewables2018


Source: International Energy Agency. (2018). Renewables Information 2018. Paris, France: IEA Publications.

Electricity Generation by Source, 2017 -- Top 25 Power-Producing Countries

Who is leading the transition towards a cleaner and safer energy mix?




Data source:
BP. (2018). BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2018. London, UK: BP p.l.c.
RTE. (2018). Bilan électrique 2017. Paris, France: Réseau de transport d'électricité (RTE).

Greenhouse Gas Emissions per Capita: Top 20 Countries in 2016

The graph below renders a different picture of how people around the world are warming the Earth by accounting for all Kyoto protocol greenhouse gases, not just carbon dioxide.



Source: Olivier, J. G. J., Schure, K. M., & Peters, J. A. H. W. (2017). Trends in Global CO₂ and Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions: 2017 Report. The Hague, The Netherlands: Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving (PBL; Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency).

State of Deforestation by Country, 1990-2015

Can the deforestation be stopped and then reversed? Reforested areas could be a good source of additional carbon sinks.

Forest Area by Country
Unit: km²

Deforestation Rank	Country	1990	2015	1990–2015	CAGR (’90–’15)
1	Togo	6,850	1,880	-72.55%	-5.04%
2	Nigeria	172,340	69,930	-59.42%	-3.54%
3	Uganda	47,510	20,770	-56.28%	-3.26%
4	Mauritania	4,150	2,245	-45.90%	-2.43%
5	Honduras	81,360	45,920	-43.56%	-2.26%
6	Pakistan	25,270	14,720	-41.75%	-2.14%
7	Niger	19,450	11,420	-41.29%	-2.11%
8	Korea, North	82,010	50,310	-38.65%	-1.94%
9	Sudan	307,273	192,099	-37.48%	-1.86%
10	Zimbabwe	221,640	140,620	-36.55%	-1.80%
11	Nicaragua	45,140	31,140	-31.01%	-1.47%
12	El Salvador	3,770	2,650	-29.71%	-1.40%
13	Mali	66,900	47,150	-29.52%	-1.39%
14	Timor-Leste	9,660	6,860	-28.99%	-1.36%
15	Paraguay	211,570	153,230	-27.57%	-1.28%
16	Chad	67,050	48,750	-27.29%	-1.27%
17	Cambodia	129,440	94,570	-26.94%	-1.25%
18	Myanmar	392,180	290,410	-25.95%	-1.19%
19	Guatemala	47,480	35,400	-25.44%	-1.17%
20	Virgin Islands (U.S.)	236	176	-25.36%	-1.16%
21	Ethiopia	167,350	124,990	-25.31%	-1.16%
22	Benin	57,610	43,110	-25.17%	-1.15%
23	Nepal	48,170	36,360	-24.52%	-1.12%
24	Comoros	490	370	-24.49%	-1.12%
25	Kyrgyzstan	8,360	6,370	-23.80%	-1.08%
26	Indonesia	1,185,450	910,100	-23.23%	-1.05%
27	Somalia	82,820	63,630	-23.17%	-1.05%
28	Cameroon	243,160	188,160	-22.62%	-1.02%
29	Argentina	347,930	271,120	-22.08%	-0.99%
30	Burkina Faso	68,470	53,500	-21.86%	-0.98%
31	Namibia	87,620	69,190	-21.03%	-0.94%
32	Botswana	137,180	108,400	-20.98%	-0.94%
33	Malawi	38,960	31,470	-19.22%	-0.85%
34	Tanzania	559,200	460,600	-17.63%	-0.77%
35	Haiti	1,160	970	-16.38%	-0.71%
36	Equatorial Guinea	18,600	15,680	-15.70%	-0.68%
37	Belize	16,160	13,663	-15.45%	-0.67%
38	Liberia	49,290	41,790	-15.22%	-0.66%
39	Ecuador	146,309	125,479	-14.24%	-0.61%
40	Dominica	500	433	-13.34%	-0.57%
41	Northern Mariana Islands	340	295	-13.24%	-0.57%
42	Bolivia	627,950	547,640	-12.79%	-0.55%
43	Mozambique	433,780	379,400	-12.54%	-0.53%
44	Guinea	72,640	63,640	-12.39%	-0.53%
45	Senegal	93,480	82,730	-11.50%	-0.49%
46	Guinea-Bissau	22,160	19,720	-11.01%	-0.47%
47	Venezuela	520,260	466,830	-10.27%	-0.43%
48	Brazil	5,467,050	4,935,380	-9.72%	-0.41%
49	Sri Lanka	22,840	20,700	-9.37%	-0.39%
50	Colombia	644,170	585,017	-9.18%	-0.38%
51	Madagascar	136,920	124,730	-8.90%	-0.37%
52	Panama	50,400	46,170	-8.39%	-0.35%
53	Brunei	4,130	3,800	-7.99%	-0.33%
54	Zambia	528,000	486,350	-7.89%	-0.33%
55	Portugal	34,360	31,820	-7.39%	-0.31%
56	St. Lucia	218	203	-6.88%	-0.28%
57	Eritrea	16,210	15,100	-6.85%	-0.28%
58	Kenya	47,240	44,130	-6.58%	-0.27%
59	Mauritius	411	386	-6.08%	-0.25%
60	Solomon Islands	23,240	21,850	-5.98%	-0.25%
61	Mexico	697,600	660,400	-5.33%	-0.22%
62	Angola	609,760	578,560	-5.12%	-0.21%
63	Peru	779,210	739,730	-5.07%	-0.21%
64	Congo, Dem. Rep.	1,603,630	1,525,780	-4.85%	-0.20%
65	Antigua and Barbuda	103	98	-4.85%	-0.20%
66	American Samoa	184	175	-4.62%	-0.19%
67	Burundi	2,890	2,760	-4.50%	-0.18%
68	Bangladesh	14,940	14,290	-4.35%	-0.18%
69	Sao Tome and Principe	560	536	-4.29%	-0.18%
70	Kazakhstan	34,220	33,090	-3.30%	-0.13%
	World	41,282,695	39,991,336	-3.13%	-0.13%
71	Australia	1,285,410	1,247,510	-2.95%	-0.12%
72	Korea, South	63,700	61,840	-2.92%	-0.12%
73	Marshall Islands	130	126	-2.77%	-0.11%
74	Jamaica	3,446	3,352	-2.73%	-0.11%
75	Trinidad and Tobago	2,407	2,345	-2.58%	-0.10%
76	British Virgin Islands	37	36	-2.43%	-0.10%
77	Sierra Leone	31,180	30,440	-2.37%	-0.10%
78	Albania	7,888	7,715	-2.19%	-0.09%
79	Central African Republic	225,600	221,700	-1.73%	-0.07%
80	Congo, Rep.	227,260	223,340	-1.72%	-0.07%
81	Bosnia and Herzegovina	22,100	21,850	-1.13%	-0.05%
82	Armenia	3,350	3,320	-0.90%	-0.04%
83	Malaysia	223,760	221,950	-0.81%	-0.03%
84	Guyana	166,600	165,260	-0.80%	-0.03%
85	Suriname	154,300	153,320	-0.64%	-0.03%
86	Canada	3,482,730	3,470,690	-0.35%	-0.01%
87	Luxembourg	870	867	-0.34%	-0.01%
88	Papua New Guinea	336,270	335,590	-0.20%	-0.01%
89	Norway	121,320	121,120	-0.16%	-0.01%
90	Afghanistan	13,500	13,500	0.00%	0.00%
90	Andorra	160	160	0.00%	0.00%
90	Aruba	4	4	0.00%	0.00%
90	Bahamas	5,150	5,150	0.00%	0.00%
90	Barbados	63	63	0.00%	0.00%
90	Bermuda	10	10	0.00%	0.00%
90	Cayman Islands	127	127	0.00%	0.00%
90	Channel Islands	8	8	0.00%	0.00%
90	Djibouti	56	56	0.00%	0.00%
90	Faroe Islands	1	1	0.00%	0.00%
90	Greenland	2	2	0.00%	0.00%
90	Grenada	170	170	0.00%	0.00%
90	Guam	250	250	0.00%	0.00%
90	Isle of Man	35	35	0.00%	0.00%
90	Jordan	975	975	0.00%	0.00%
90	Kiribati	122	122	0.00%	0.00%
90	Libya	2,170	2,170	0.00%	0.00%
90	Maldives	10	10	0.00%	0.00%
90	Malta	4	4	0.00%	0.00%
90	New Caledonia	8,390	8,390	0.00%	0.00%
90	Oman	20	20	0.00%	0.00%
90	Saudi Arabia	9,770	9,770	0.00%	0.00%
90	Seychelles	407	407	0.00%	0.00%
90	Singapore	164	164	0.00%	0.00%
90	South Africa	92,410	92,410	0.00%	0.00%
90	St. Kitts and Nevis	110	110	0.00%	0.00%
90	St. Martin (French part)	10	10	0.00%	0.00%
90	Tonga	90	90	0.00%	0.00%
90	Turkmenistan	41,270	41,270	0.00%	0.00%
90	Turks and Caicos Islands	344	344	0.00%	0.00%
90	Tuvalu	10	10	0.00%	0.00%
90	Vanuatu	4,400	4,400	0.00%	0.00%
90	Yemen	5,490	5,490	0.00%	0.00%
123	Japan	249,500	249,580	0.03%	0.00%
124	Sweden	280,630	280,730	0.04%	0.00%
125	Mongolia	125,360	125,528	0.13%	0.01%
126	Micronesia	640	643	0.42%	0.02%
127	Russia	8,089,500	8,149,305	0.74%	0.03%
128	Slovak Republic	19,220	19,400	0.94%	0.04%
129	Tajikistan	4,080	4,120	0.98%	0.04%
130	West Bank and Gaza	91	92	0.99%	0.04%
131	Germany	113,000	114,190	1.05%	0.04%
132	Estonia	22,060	22,320	1.18%	0.05%
133	Czech Republic	26,290	26,670	1.45%	0.06%
134	Finland	218,750	222,180	1.57%	0.06%
135	Cote d'Ivoire	102,220	104,010	1.75%	0.07%
136	Belgium	6,670	6,834	2.46%	0.10%
137	Austria	37,760	38,690	2.46%	0.10%
138	United States	3,024,500	3,100,950	2.53%	0.10%
139	Georgia	27,520	28,224	2.56%	0.10%
140	Iraq	8,040	8,250	2.61%	0.10%
141	Croatia	18,500	19,220	3.89%	0.15%
142	Ukraine	92,740	96,570	4.13%	0.16%
143	Gabon	220,000	230,000	4.55%	0.18%
144	Lebanon	1,310	1,373	4.81%	0.19%
145	Slovenia	11,880	12,480	5.05%	0.20%
146	New Zealand	96,580	101,520	5.11%	0.20%
147	Uzbekistan	30,450	32,199	5.74%	0.22%
148	Latvia	31,730	33,560	5.77%	0.22%
149	Palau	380	403	6.05%	0.24%
150	Liechtenstein	65	69	6.15%	0.24%
151	Poland	88,810	94,350	6.24%	0.24%
152	Laos	176,449	187,614	6.33%	0.25%
153	Fiji	9,529	10,172	6.75%	0.26%
154	Cyprus	1,611	1,727	7.19%	0.28%
155	Costa Rica	25,640	27,560	7.49%	0.29%
156	Romania	63,710	68,610	7.69%	0.30%
157	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	250	270	8.00%	0.31%
158	Ghana	86,270	93,370	8.23%	0.32%
159	Switzerland	11,510	12,540	8.95%	0.34%
160	Netherlands	3,450	3,760	8.99%	0.34%
161	Macedonia	9,120	9,980	9.43%	0.36%
162	Serbia	24,760	27,200	9.85%	0.38%
163	Bhutan	25,067	27,549	9.90%	0.38%
164	Gambia	4,420	4,880	10.41%	0.40%
165	India	639,390	706,820	10.55%	0.40%
166	Belarus	77,800	86,335	10.97%	0.42%
167	Lithuania	19,450	21,800	12.08%	0.46%
168	Denmark	5,432	6,122	12.70%	0.48%
169	United Kingdom	27,780	31,440	13.17%	0.50%
170	Morocco	49,540	56,320	13.69%	0.51%
171	Hungary	18,010	20,690	14.88%	0.56%
172	Bulgaria	33,270	38,230	14.91%	0.56%
173	Chile	152,630	177,350	16.20%	0.60%
174	Thailand	140,050	163,990	17.09%	0.63%
175	Algeria	16,670	19,560	17.34%	0.64%
176	France	144,360	169,890	17.68%	0.65%
177	Iran	90,761	106,920	17.80%	0.66%
178	Turkey	96,220	117,150	21.75%	0.79%
179	Italy	75,900	92,970	22.49%	0.81%
180	Lesotho	400	490	22.50%	0.82%
181	Philippines	65,550	80,400	22.65%	0.82%
182	Greece	32,990	40,540	22.89%	0.83%
183	Swaziland	4,720	5,860	24.15%	0.87%
184	Israel	1,320	1,650	25.00%	0.90%
185	Moldova	3,190	4,090	28.21%	1.00%
186	Samoa	1,300	1,710	31.54%	1.10%
187	United Arab Emirates	2,450	3,226	31.67%	1.11%
188	Syria	3,720	4,910	31.99%	1.12%
189	Montenegro	6,260	8,270	32.11%	1.12%
190	China	1,571,406	2,083,213	32.57%	1.13%
191	Spain	138,095	184,179	33.37%	1.16%
192	Azerbaijan	8,520	11,394	33.73%	1.17%
193	Rwanda	3,180	4,800	50.94%	1.66%
194	Cuba	20,580	32,000	55.49%	1.78%
195	Cabo Verde	578	899	55.67%	1.79%
196	Vietnam	93,630	147,730	57.78%	1.84%
197	Tunisia	6,430	10,410	61.90%	1.95%
198	Ireland	4,650	7,540	62.15%	1.95%
199	Egypt	440	730	65.91%	2.05%
200	Puerto Rico	2,870	4,960	72.80%	2.21%
201	Dominican Republic	11,050	19,830	79.46%	2.37%
202	Kuwait	35	63	81.16%	2.41%
203	Uruguay	7,978	18,450	131.26%	3.41%
204	Bahrain	2	6	172.73%	4.09%
205	French Polynesia	550	1,550	181.82%	4.23%
206	Iceland	161	492	205.59%	4.57%

Source: World Bank. (2018). World Development Indicators (Last Updated on March 1, 2018). Washington, DC: World Bank.

Cost of Energy Comparison, Including Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE)—2018 Update

I updated the list in a new post for the year of 2019. Please move to the post cited below.

Park, H. (2019). Cost of Energy Comparison, Including Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE)—2019 Update [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://j.mp/LCOE_2019