International Energy Agency commits to becoming net zero by 2024

IEA has announced a new commitment to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, aligning itself with the recommendations of its landmark Roadman to Net Zero by 2050.

The International Energy Agency plans to rapidly reduce the emissions produced from its activities to comply with the recommendations the recent landmark report; Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector.

Fatih Birol, IEA Executive Director, said: “The IEA is committed to helping all countries achieve their energy and climate goals, with our Roadmap to Net Zero by 2050 providing a narrow but achievable pathway to this critical goal.”

“As I have pointed out repeatedly, it’s not enough to simply talk about net zero – you have to act. That’s what we’re doing by putting in place practical measures that follow the recommendations of our Roadmap. We are determined for the IEA to reach net zero by November 2024 – the 50th anniversary of the founding of our Agency.”

Upon assessing its greenhouse gas emissions footprint of its operations, the Agency is pursuing a practical action plan to rapidly reduce emissions.

The IEA plan to reduce emissions across all aspects of its company, including its staff members’ commutes, procurement of goods and services, waste generation, water use and use of IEA offices.

Various approaches are being pursued, such as encouraging the use of video-conferencing to reduce travel, purchasing clean electricity for offices, and encouraging suppliers and contractors to address emissions from the goods and services they provide to the IEA.

To ensure the net zero target is achieved, the Agency plans to purchase carbon credits with the highest level of environmental integrity to displace any potential residual emissions it may still have in 2024.

The IEA will monitor their progress towards net zero emissions by publishing annual updates, which will include verification of the outcome in 2024 by an independent third party.

Read the full report here.