New data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) reveals that global energy-related carbon emissions slowed down in 2023 because of the continued expansion of renewables, nuclear power and electric vehicles.

In 2023, global energy-related carbon emissions reached a record level of 37.4 billion tonnes. However, according to the IEA’s latest report, 2023’s rise of 410 million tonnes, or 1.1%, is lower than 2022’s rise of 490 million tonnes.

The reason why emissions grew more weakly is down to the continued growth of clean energy technologies, such as solar PV, wind power, nuclear power and electric cars. According to the IEA, without these technologies, the global increase in CO2 emissions in the last five years would have been three times larger.

The overall rise in energy-related emissions would have been significantly smaller if it hadn’t been for the low hydropower output caused by extreme droughts in China, the US and several other economies. With these economies having to turn to...