While major energy producers are under pressure to cut their fossil fuel producers, governments around the world have made little progress in persuading consumers to reduce consumption to help achieve climate targets. Researchers, policymakers, and executives speaking in an energy event said consumers are not ready to pay for costlier renewable power or compromise their lifestyle.
They said the growing population in developing countries and consumerism in wealthy nations made cutting carbon emissions difficult or even impossible. In June, Swiss voters rejected the government’s environmental plans to increase the surcharge on fuels and impose a tax on flight tickets.
The International Energy Agency said last month that the world should stop investment in new fossil fuel developments from achieving net-zero targets by 2050. This week, the agency’s chairman Fatih Birol said net-zero targets were impossible without consumers changing their consumption patterns. Birol said that CO2 emissions are growing every year, although many countries have set net-zero targets by 2050.
The French government is introducing steps to discourage short-distance air travel. But at the same time, the British government is busy discussing how to revive a holiday season to save the tourism and aviation industries. Birol said 95% of the IEA’s 400 net-zero milestones, including banning internal combustion engines vehicles and promoting non-fossil aviation fuels, require changes in demand pattern, not supply.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has repeatedly criticised developing countries for wasting money on subsidising transportation fuels. But even in the US, road fuels are just half of those in the UK due to low taxes. The current administration has signalled it would keep the existing taxation. Instead, President Joe Biden has proposed sweeping measures to boost the use of electric vehicles. However, a recent study showed that Americans were sceptical about electric cars.
