Response to International Energy Agency’s 2019 World Energy Outlook

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Hannah McKinnon, hannah [at] priceofoil [dot] org
Kelly Trout, kelly [at] priceofoil [dot] org
Nathan Lemphers, nathan [at] priceofoil [dot] org

Oil Change International Responds to the International Energy Agency’s 2019 World Energy Outlook

In response to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 2019 World Energy Outlook (WEO), experts at Oil Change International (OCI) have released the following statements:

Hannah McKinnon, Program Director, Energy Transitions and Futures, Oil Change International:
“After a year of clear demands and obvious signals from energy experts, investors, and governments, the IEA has again failed where it matters on climate. WEO 2019 does not offer the reform needed to guide decision makers towards the critical Paris goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C. Instead, WEO 2019 continues to feature a catastrophic business-as-usual scenario at its centre, ignore the need for substantial ambition increases in its Sustainable Development Scenario, and chart a course to net zero in 2070 – a full 20 years too late according to the best available science. Without stepping up and making high ambition the centrepiece, the IEA seems to be confirming they are not fit for purpose in a time of climate emergency.”

Kelly Trout, Senior Research Analyst, Oil Change International:
“After a year of deadly wildfires, hurricanes, and heatwaves, we do not have more time to wait on the IEA to gradually center climate ambition – that needs to happen immediately. This year, like it did in 2016, the IEA provides a sketch of an energy pathway towards 1.5°C, but a sketch is not a full, central scenario equipped to guide investment decisions. The IEA mentions that oil demand would fall sharply to 2050 under a precautionary 1.5°C pathway, all while providing cover for trillions of new investment in oil and gas extraction under both the Stated Policies and Sustainable Development Scenarios. By continuing to fall short on ambition, the IEA normalizes disastrous levels of fossil fuel investment.”

Nathan Lemphers, Senior Campaigner, Oil Change International:
“The IEA should be guiding the world away from the climate crisis. Unfortunately, the IEA has failed to convey the urgency of the situation. Under the pretense of climate leadership, this year’s WEO assumes we can continue pumping out more oil and gas while burdening the next generation with finding a way out of this catastrophe. The IEA must either lead the world to a climate safety or it must get out of the way.”

Stephen Kretzmann, Executive Director, Oil Change International:
“The question we’re left with is simply, why? Why do IEA scenarios consistently skew towards greater use of fossil fuels, and consistently fail to aim for climate success? It is worth noting that more than 25% of the votes on the IEA Governing Board – the largest share by far – are assigned to the world’s leading oil and gas producer, the United States. Is the IEA merely incompetent, or is the institution in fact corrupt and captured by industry?”

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