FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 9, 2020

CONTACT:

Kelly Trout, kelly [at] priceofoil [dot] org
Hannah McKinnon, hannah [at] priceofoil [dot] org

Statement: IEA Oil 2020 report fails to reflect climate emergency

In response to the International Energy Agency (IEA) Oil 2020 report released today, as global oil prices plummet amid supply swings and the impacts of COVID 19, Kelly Trout, Senior Research Analyst at Oil Change International, released the following statement:

“The IEA Oil 2020 report should come with a warning label. The IEA’s analysis is once again an unfit guide in this time of climate emergency. The IEA ignores the reality that tackling the climate crisis will require a fundamental transformation of energy markets, and the managed decline of fossil fuel production and use within this decade. Rather than anticipate continued growth in oil demand, the IEA should be providing governments with a roadmap for shifting their economies to renewable energy at the speed required to limit warming to 1.5 degrees.

“The wild swings of oil markets underscore the urgent need for government leadership to phase out the fossil fuel economy in a just and predictable way. In response to a collapse in prices, oil companies are likely to squeeze their own workers and lobby governments for more subsidies, actions which would undercut the just transition to renewable energy that we need. Oil companies are driven by their own profit interests, not the public interest.

“Limiting warming to 1.5 degrees will require governments to put a stop to oil and gas expansion and proactively manage the phase out of fossil fuels in a way that ensures a just transition.”

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