Solar slowed CO2 emissions in 2023, global droughts pushed back up

IEA’s CO2 report shows that global carbon emissions rose 1.1% in 2023, reaching a historic high

comparative rise in emissions is lower than in 2022 (1.3%)

Without the expansion of renewable deployments, this figure would have been significantly higher

large caveat: global droughts – in China, the US and several other regions – caused a steep drop-off in hydropower generation over 2023

Over 40% of the rise in emissions was accounted for by the absence of expected hydropower capacity

Had these droughts not occurred, the IEA said that global emissions from electricity generation would have fallen, which would in turn have significantly lessened the increase in total emissions

world deployed 420GW of solar PV capacity in 2023, a vast 85% increase from the 228GW installed in 2022

261GW of this new capacity was deployed in China, followed by the European Union (53GW), the US (32GW) and India (12GW)

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