U.S. oil and gas giant: The world cannot limit warming to less than 2 degrees by 2050

Caixin News Agency, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) (Editor Xia Junxiong) Local time on Monday (August 28), the largest U.S. oil and gas giant ExxonMobil said that by 2050, oil and natural gas is expected to still meet more than half of the worlds energy needs, while the global temperature rise will fail to be controlled at that time within 2 degrees Celsius.

ExxonMobil expects global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to reach 25 billion tonnes by 2050 in its published energy outlook, while the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated that if global warming is to be limited to less than 2 degrees Celsius, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions will need to be controlled at around 11 billion tonnes.

Under the Paris Agreement reached by countries in 2015, all signatories agreed to limit temperature rise to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, while seeking measures to further limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

ExxonMobil said, "The energy transition is in transition, but its scale and timeline are not yet at the level needed to achieve net-zero emissions for society."

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has been calling since 2021 for more resources to be devoted to clean energy technologies if the world is to be on track to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Citing IEA figures, ExxonMobil said only two of the 55 technologies needed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 are currently on track. With the addition of low-emission options, carbon emissions will fall by only 25 per cent by 2050, below the expected scenario, the company said.

Specifically, ExxonMobil expects energy-related carbon dioxide to peak at more than 34 billion tonnes sometime this decade before falling to 25 billion tonnes in 2050 as the economy and energy demand grow.