Less conversation, more action: How many countries have made pledges to get to net zero emissions?

Less conversation, more action: How many countries have made pledges to get to net zero emissions?

5/18/21 8:00PM

This week the International Energy Agency put out a comprehensive report on the steps and actions needed for the world to get to net-zero emissions by 2050.

Among the many charts and hopeful projections about solar installations, electric vehicles, bio-energy and coal shutdowns one piece of data struck us as particularly important - which we've reproduced in the chart above. That is, for all of the countries that have been talking a big game on climate change, how many have actually already passed legislation to go for net-zero? The answer is only 10.

That was surprisingly low, but the good news is that more countries look set to follow. In fact, another 34 countries have pledged to shoot for net zero, even if it's not yet been enshrined legally. Overall the countries that have made some kind of pledge account for more than 70% of global CO2 emissions.

For more information on the specifics of how we get to net zero by 2050 we highly recommend checking out the full report from the International Energy Agency.

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