Decades from now, we may look back at 2015 as the year the world finally turned the tides to prevent climate change.
In December, 195 nations reached a binding agreement at COP21 (the United Nations conference on climate change) to keep global warming in check.
And 2015 was also the first time the world added more energy from renewable sources than from fossil fuels, according to the United Nations-backed Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016 report released March 24.
The report also found that developing countries are now leading the way in adopting renewables. Developing countries (including China, India, and Mexico) invested more in renewable energy than developed ones (including the US) did in 2015.
Last year, investment in renewable energy beat the previous record set in 2011, when "green stimulus" programs peaked in the US and parts of Europe. But what's driving the 2015 record isn't just a handful of rich countries — it's a shift toward renewables around the world.
These trends could set us on the right track to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels like coal and oil. And while the overall energy coming from renewables like wind and solar today is slight in comparison, we have to start somewhere.
Renewables, excluding large hydropower projects, only made up 10% of the total energy the world used in 2015, according to the report.
But that's the most it's ever been. And over half — 54% — of the energy installed last year came from renewables, not fossil fuels. Large hydropower projects made up another 9% and nuclear power was responsible for 6% of the 250 gigawatt total for the world.
We're on track to keep increasing our reliance on renewable, carbon-free sources, shut down coal power plants, and switch from gas to electric cars. But the report projects that carbon emissions will still keep increasing, and peak in 2026.
"Despite the ambitious signals from COP 21 in Paris and the growing capacity of new installed renewable energy, there is still a long way to go," Udo Steffens, who co-wrote the report's foreword and is president of the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, said in a press release. "Coal-fired power stations and other conventional power plants have long lifetimes. Without further policy interventions, climate altering emissions of carbon dioxide will increase for at least another decade."
A decade from now, emissions could reach 15.3 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, according to the report, which is 12.5% higher than it is today.
But 2015 proved that we could get on the right track. Last year was just the start.
