CO2 Emissions Increase 1.1% in 2023 Due to Climate Change

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has analyzed global CO₂ emissions associated with energy generation. IEA experts estimate that carbon dioxide emissions increased by 1.1% in 2023, mainly due to a decrease in hydropower generation. The reason is the drought that hit many parts of the world last year, in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. In addition, China’s industrial growth, whose GDP rose by 5.2% in 2023, has contributed significantly to the surge in CO₂ emissions.

CO₂ emissions, one way or another related to energy production, which account for about 90% of the carbon dioxide emitted by humans into the atmosphere, increased by 410 million tons last year to a record 37.4 billion tons. Global warming and the resulting droughts, which have reduced global hydropower production, have increased emissions by about 170 million tons.

But as IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol noted, “the trend does not seem to be as bad as the previous year, when emissions increased by 490 million tons.” According to Birol, “the transition to clean energy is occurring rapidly and is leading to emissions reductions even if global energy demand grows faster in 2024 than in 2022-2023.”

In this context, a popular initiative by Swiss citizens called “Stop the Blackout,” which aims to question the blocking of nuclear power plant construction, has not gone unnoticed. Activists insist that the ban on building new nuclear power plants in Switzerland must be reconsidered. Supporters of the popular initiative “Electricity for All at All Times (Stop the Blackout)” submitted more than 130,000 signatures to the Federal Clerk’s Office on Friday, March 1, which is well over the 100,000 needed to start a national debate. As the movement’s leaders emphasized, “recent winters have shown that Switzerland does not generate enough electricity and is dependent on foreign suppliers.” According to Eduard Kiener, former director of the Swiss Federal Energy Office, “the goal of zero emissions by 2050 can only be achieved with nuclear power.” Also, according to national energy advisor Marcel Dobler, “current technological bans must be lifted to allow the construction of new nuclear power plants.”