The economic imperative: Recession and social injustice imperil the energy transition

The pandemic revealed the human cost of chaotic decarbonisation achieved by tanking the economy. To keep its social licence, the energy transition must decouple GDP growth from CO2 emissions

When the economy booms, so do anthropogenic emissions of climate-warming gases. This year, the inverse happened.

The pandemic plunged the global economy into its most severe contraction since the Great Depression. Energy-related emissions, which were on a hockey-stick trajectory until 2019, were slammed into reverse and are on track to be 7% lower in 202…