NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO • April 30, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is delivering the biggest shock to the global energy system in seven decades, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency. Global energy demand is expected to fall by 6% this year, seven times the decline brought by the financial crisis 10 years ago. Demand for coal could fall by an extraordinary 8% — the largest decline since World War II. The IEA says the lower emissions will reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions that lead to climate change by almost 8% this year, which would be the largest annual decrease ever recorded. But the U.N. has said global emissions must be cut that much every year for the next decade in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoid its worst impacts.