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Long description

This figure has three parts. Part (a) on the left is a line chart showing two possible scenarios for global carbon dioxide emissions from the year 2000 to 2100. Part (b) at the top right is a pie chart showing the breakdown of world energy in 2022. Part (c) at the bottom left is a pie chart showing projected world energy sources in 2040.

The line chart (a) on the left has a y-axis labelled ‘carbon dioxide emissions in gigatonnes per year’. It has a scale running from zero to 45 gigatonnes in 5 gigatonne steps. The zero point is also labelled ‘Net zero’. Historical CO2 emissions are shown by a black line which rises unevenly from just over 25 gigatonnes in 2000 to about 35 gigatonnes in 2010 and to 37 gigatonnes in 2022, with a pronounced dip in 2020.

The first scenario is shown by an orange line which descends from 37 gigatonnes in 2022 down to 33 gigatonnes in 2028 and to only 6 gigatonnes in 2055. This point is marked by a black dot on the line and labelled ‘2 degrees Celsius by 2100’. The orange line then descends further, reaching net zero in 2070, where there is a green dot on the line. The second scenario is shown by a green line which descends rapidly from 37 gigatonnes in 2022 down to 6 gigatonnes in 2040. This point is marked with a black dot on the line and is labelled ‘1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100’. The green line descends to zero by 2050, where there is a green dot on the line. From the black dot on the green 1.5 degree line, a short grey arrow points horizontally to the black dot on the 2 degree line.

Part (b) at the top left is a pie chart labelled ‘world energy 2022’. The proportions of this pie chart are as follows:

  • coal, shown in black, 27%
  • oil, shown in orange, 29%
  • natural gas, shown in turquoise, 23%
  • nuclear heat, shown in purple, 5%
  • wind, shown in light blue, 1%
  • solar electricity, shown in yellow, 1%
  • other renewables, shown in green, 14%.

A horizontal grey arrow runs to the left from this pie chart to the peak emissions point on the line chart in 2022. A short, solid grey arrow runs vertically downwards from this pie chart to the one below.

Part (c) at the bottom right is a pie chart labelled ‘world energy 2040’. It is slightly smaller than the pie chart in part (b). The proportions of this pie chart are as follows:

  • coal, shown in black, 3%
  • oil, shown in orange, 15%
  • natural gas, shown in turquoise, 8%
  • nuclear heat, shown in purple, 12%
  • wind, shown in light blue, 11%
  • solar electricity, shown in yellow, 18%
  • other renewables, shown in green, 29%
  • fossil fuels with CCUS, shown in grey, 4%.

A thick green arrow runs leftwards from this pie chart into the line chart in part (a), to the black dot on the green ‘1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100’ line at 6 gigatonnes of emissions.