The IEA has delivered an overdue message

The IEA has delivered an overdue message

When the International Energy Agency was created in 1974, the world was reeling from its first major oil shock. The new agency’s main job was to keep global oil supplies flowing smoothly and affordably. Nearly half a century later, the IEA has made a striking U-turn. Oil companies must stopall new projects to find supplies from this year if global warming is to be curbed, says a road mapfrom the agency on how to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. 

New gasfields and coal mines are also out, as are new coal-fired power stations unless fitted with expensive equipment to stop their carbon emissions warming the atmosphere.

For a body with the IEA’s history, this is a jolting message. It will bolster investors already urging big oil groups such as ExxonMobil and Shell to take climate risks more seriously. Yet it would be a mistake to be distracted by the messenger, because the agency’s findings are far from novel. Researchers have shownfor years that most of the known reserves of fossil fuels should stay in the ground to keep global warming in check.

Oxford university academics warned in 2016that no new unabated coal or gas power stations should be built “from