Renewables outpace fossil fuels despite US policy shift: IEA

Renewable energy is still expanding faster than fossil fuels around the world despite policy changes in the United States, with oil demand possibly peaking “around 2030”, the International Energy Agency said yesterday. The Paris-based IEA presented different scenarios for the future of energy in its annual World Energy Outlook -- the first since coming under fire from the government of US President Donald Trump over its oil forecasts.

“The pace varies, but renewables grow faster than any other major energy source in all scenarios, led by solar photovoltaics,” the agency, which advises mostly developed nations, said in its 518-page report. In one scenario, “policy changes mean that the United States has 30 percent less renewables capacity installed in 2035 than in last year’s Outlook, but at the global level renewables continue their rapid expansion”. The report comes as world leaders meet at the UN’s COP30 climate conference in Belem, Brazil, which Trump and his government have shunned.