A new report has revealed that the world’s consumption of fossil fuels climbed to a record high in 2023, driving emissions to over 40 gigatonnes of CO2 for the first time in history.

The global energy report by the Energy Institute noted that the use of fossil fuel reached a global record despite observed clean energy growth, adding that developing countries are increasing reliance on coal, gas and oil as overall demand for energy rises.

Notwithstanding a record rise in the use of renewable energy in last year, consumption of fossil fuel continued to increase too. Fossil fuel energy consumption for Nigeria rose by over 18.9 per cent. Although, Nigeria fossil fuel energy consumption fluctuated substantially in recent years, decreasing through 1995 to 2014 period.

With the nation still ranked as one of the developing countries, phasing out fossil fuel has been difficult despite efforts of the Federal government as Nigeria still heavily relies on fossil fuel.

The Federal Government recently rejected calls for phase-out of fossil fuels, an issue which emerged as one of the most topical at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Summit in Dubai, UAE.

“It is unacceptable to ask Nigeria or Africa to phase out fossil fuels,” said Nigeria’s Minister of State for Environment, Ishaq Salako.

Salako likened the clamour for phasing out of fossil fuels to asking a sick patient to breathe without life support. The Nigerian economy heavily depends on petroleum.

The president of the Energy Institute, Juliet Davenport, said the report had revealed “another year of highs in our energy-hungry world” including a record high consumption of fossil fuels, which rose by 1.5 per cent to 505 exajoules.

The landmark findings by the institute dashed hopes held by climate scientists that 2023 would be recorded as the year in which yearly emissions peaked before the global fossil fuel economy began a terminal decline.

The report further said energy industry emissions may have reached a peak in advanced economies; developing economies are continuing to increase their reliance on coal, gas and oil.
Overall, fossil fuels made up 81.5 per cent of the world’s primary energy last year, down only marginally from 82 per cent the year before, according to the report, even as wind and solar farms generated a record amount of clean energy.

Authored by consultants at KPMG and Kearney, the study found that wind and solar power climbed by 13 per cent last year to reach a new record of 4,748 terawatt hours in 2023.

However, it was not enough to match the world’s growing consumption of primary energy, which rose 2 per cent last year to a record high of 620 exajoules and led to more fossil fuel use. It also established that the world’s appetite for gas remained steady in 2024 while consumption of coal climbed by 1.6 per cent and oil demand rose by two per cent, to reach 100 million barrels a day for the first time.