Ploy Achakulwisut, PhD

Two graphs from the paper. The left graph shows US net greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to 2022. The official EPA estimates decline fairly steadily from 6.6 gigatonnes per year in 2005 to 5.5 in 2022 (17% below 2005 levels), largely reflecting natural gas displacing coal for electricity generation. The adjusted estimates, which reflect independent measurements of methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure, end at 6.3 gigatonnes per year in 2022 (only 5% below 2005 levels). The right graph shows 2022 emissions increasing linearly with the assumed global warming potential of methane. Climate scientists are divided on whether to use the 100-year GWP, 20-year GWP, or something in between. With methane warming impacts assessed via the 20-year GWP, the central 2022 emissions estimate is 7.9 gigatonnes per year - 20% *above* the EPA's official 2005 estimate. Caption: Figure 1: Left: United States net greenhouse gas emissions over time. Right: Scaling of 2022 net emissions with methane’s GWP. After adjustment to reflect recent measurements of methane emissions from natural gas infrastructure, United States net emissions remain nearly as high as their 2005 level.

New paper. I wish this wasn't the case, but most progress on reducing US greenhouse gas emissions is likely spurious. Why? EPA underestimates methane emissions from oil and gas. Relevant today as Repubs vote to gut IRA's methane monitoring/mitigation program. 🧵

authors.elsevier.com/a/1lL4K_6se4...

UN Secretary‑General António Guterres:

"Countries that cling to fossil fuels are not protecting their economies – they are sabotaging them. Driving up costs. Undermining competitiveness. Locking-in stranded assets. And missing the greatest economic opportunity of the 21st century."

'In relation to the #ParisAgreement, the court affirmed the 1.5°C target to be the only relevant limit and recognized that the climate treaty establishes “stringent” mitigation obligations for states to protect the climate and other parts of the environment from anthropogenic GHG emissions.'

Climate Change an 'Existential Threat', Says World's Top Court “The consequences of climate change...underscore the urgent and existential threat posed by climate change,” said ICJ President Yuji Iwasawa .

ICJ Advisory Opinion: Climate Change Is an ‘Existential Threat of Planetary Proportions’, Says World’s Top Court

4.6 Billion Years On, the Sun Is Having a Moment In the past two years, without much notice, solar power has begun to truly transform the world’s energy system.

Globally, roughly a third more power is being generated from the sun this spring than last. If this exponential rate of growth can continue, we will soon live in a very different world, @billmckibben.bsky.social‬ writes.

"We are in the dawn of a new energy era.
An era where cheap, clean, abundant energy powers a world rich in economic opportunity.
And the gift of power is a gift for all.
That world is within reach.
But it won’t happen on its own.
It is up to us.
This is our moment of opportunity." 🌅

The UN Secretary-General and our report lay out six priority areas of action for supercharging the transition.

Governments, international institutions and partners, and development finance institutions, as well as the private sector, all have vital roles to play...

While economic pragmatism & energy security concerns will now drive the transition away from fossil fuels to renewables, progressive policies — and greater international cooperation — will be vital to dismantle barriers and accelerate progress, and to ensure a just, orderly, and equitable transition

And "Too often, governments send mixed messages:
Bold renewable targets on one day. New fossil fuel subsidies and expansions the next..."

We thus remain far off track from meeting the overall global 1.5°C-aligned energy-transition goals agreed to at #COP28

Nevertheless, as the UN Secretary-General said,
"The energy transition is unstoppable.
But the transition is not yet fast enough or fair enough."

The deployment of and investment in renewable energy technologies have so far been highly concentrated in advanced economies and China.

As our report argues, to avoid #CarbonTunnelVision, renewables-based solution should also be prioritized in delivering universal "clean cooking" access by 2030. www.sei.org/perspectives...

Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report, 2024 – Analysis - IEA Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report, 2024 - Analysis and key findings. A report by the International Energy Agency.

Renewables can boost energy security, affordability,
and access — they now offer the most cost-effective, fastest solutions for delivering new electricity access, especially in hard-to-reach locations. By 2022, off-grid solar served 490 million people globally. www.iea.org/reports/trac...

Meanwhile, dependence on fossil fuel imports exposes
countries to volatile prices, supply disruptions, and geopolitical turmoil. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, consumers worldwide on average spent 20% more on energy bills than the previous 5-year average.

🌅 A new clean energy economy is emerging, powering GDP growth and creating jobs while helping to decouple growth from emissions. In 2023, the sector added around USD 320 billion to the global economy, accounting for almost
5% of GDP growth in India, 6% in the USA, 20% in China, and ~33% in the EU.

📈 Experts believe that solar and wind energy have entered a virtuous cycle of cost decline and widespread adoption. In 2024:
☀️ Renewables made up 92.5% of all new electricity capacity additions.
🌬️Solar PV was 41% cheaper, and onshore wind 53% cheaper, than the least-cost new fossil fuel options.

The fossil fuel age is flailing and failing. | António Guterres The fossil fuel age is flailing and failing. Countries that cling to fossil fuels are not protecting their economies – they are sabotaging them: driving up costs, undermining competitiveness, locking...

Yes, climate impacts are intensifying in frequency and ferocity. Yes, emissions are still rising. "But amidst the turmoil, another story is being written. Fossil fuels are running out of road. The sun is rising on a clean energy age..." www.linkedin.com/posts/antoni...

A Moment of Opportunity | United Nations On 22 July 2025, the UN Secretary-General focused on a hopeful story emerging amidst the ongoing climate devastation and turmoil: that of a new energy era. He outlined a compelling and evidence-b...

Working on climate change can make it hard to stay hopeful most of the time, but over the past few months, working on the UN Secretary-General's #MomentOfOpportunity speech and special report has given me more hope than I expected... 🧵 www.un.org/en/climatech...

27/ 🌡️With regard to the temperature threshold relevant for today's ruling, the Court affirms, building on science and COP decisions, that the 1.5c temperature target must be understood as the internationally agreed objective of climate policies!

10/ 🔥Judge Iwasawa Yuji quotes straight from the IPCC: "Warming of 1.5°C is not considered 'safe' for most nations, communities, ecosystems and sectors, and poses significant risks to natural and human systems." - this is a very strong basis for the Court's legal conclusions!

🔥 ⚖️ 🌐HAPPENING NOW: Historic #ClimateJustice Ruling being delivered by the 🇺🇳 🧑‍⚖️ International Court of Justice.
🚨This ruling could signal a new dawn for climate law & accountability
📝 🧵 Live thread below with context, summary & analysis 👇
#ClimateJusticeAO #AOLetsGo

Brazil's environment minister suggests roadmap to end fossil fuels at COP30 Brazil's environment minister Marina Silva suggests this year's COP30 climate summit could result in a roadmap to guide a "planned and just transition"

Brazil’s environment minister told @mcivillini.bsky.social she has advocated for a roadmap to end fossil fuels to be agreed at COP30:

“The worst possible thing would be for us to not plan for this transition.”

World on brink of climate breakthrough as fossil fuels ‘run out of road’, UN chief says António Guterres says ‘sun is rising on a clean energy age’ as 90% of renewable power projects cheaper than fossil fuels

World on brink of climate breakthrough as fossil fuels ‘run out of road’, UN chief says www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Thanks to @mcivillini.bsky.social @climatechangenews.com for a terrific coverage of the UNSG's #MomentOfOpportunity climate address and our special report on supercharging the transition away from fossil fuels to renewables -- www.un.org/en/climatech...

📣 Great to see all these points in the UN Secretary-General António Guterres' speech on #JustTransition in #Energy and beyond, on the eve of International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on State obligations on #ClimateChange

👉 #HumanRights Imperative to #Defossilize: shorturl.at/ZaHjM

I’m in New York for UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ special address on climate. He has a hopeful story amidst the chaos and loss of climate disaster. Stick with me to follow his speech, and check out the report his comments are based on!

www.un.org/en/climatech...

Installed capacity for renewable energy (consisting of solar PV, concentrated solar and onshore and offshore wind) and fossil fuels in GW, shown in the charts on the left-hand side, and the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) in US cents per kWh, shown in the charts on the right-hand side. Source: IRENA.

NEW – UN: Five reasons why switching to renewables is ‘smart economics’ | @mollylempriere.carbonbrief.org

Read here: buff.ly/eBw6exl

"Shell and other leading energy groups have abandoned a six-year-long attempt to define a “net zero” emissions strategy after being told that such a standard would require them to stop developing new oil and gas fields, according to documents seen by the Financial Times."

The rise of renewable energy is irreversible. | António Guterres The rise of renewable energy is irreversible. The age of fossil fuel is coming to an end. A hopeful story is emerging amidst the ongoing climate devastation and turmoil: that of a new energy era. A ...

This was a fun albeit nerve-wracking experience to show the Secretary-General round the solar panels at UNHQ! Tune in at 9am EDT on 22 July for the UNSG's special climate address and our report launch on accelerating the just energy transition #MomentOfOpportunity www.linkedin.com/posts/antoni...

bar chart showing deaths associate with extreme heat with and without climate change in 12 European cities

About 1500 of the approx. 2300 people that will have lost their lives across 12 European cities last week would still live, if it wasn't for our burning of oil, coal and gas. If we care about the right to life, we need to stop burning fossil fuels. www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/pub...

I'm excited to announce this new paper we have in The Lancet Planetary Health.

We show that the world is not moving towards a just and ecological future for all.