Are fossil fuels nearing their end? New report reveals alarming outlook

Although global leaders and climate activists are striving hard in COP30 to achieve the 2015 Paris Agreement, calling for limiting emissions to 1.5 C ideally, global fossil fuel emissions are set to hit record in 2025, new study reveals.

According to the Global Carbon Budget report, the emissions are projected to rise 1.1 percent in 2025, reaching unprecedented levels due to burning of hydrocarbons, deforestation, and other anthropogenic activities.

In the midst of greater use of fossil fuels, worldwide carbon dioxide emissions are expected to reach a record 38.1 billion tons. Total CO2 emissions from human activities will reach 42.2 billion tons in 2025.

"We are not yet in a situation where the emissions go down [as] rapidly as they need to, to tackle climate change, but at the same time there are a lot of positive [developments]" said Corinne Le Quéré, professor of climate change science at the University of East Anglia.

These figures show that efforts to tackle climate change driven by fossil fuels have not been producing enough results.

The expansion in renewable energy offers a hope for an era characterized by the phasing out of fossil fuels.

In a promising development, China’s fossil emissions were largely flat this year, indicating shift towards renewables in energy demand and raising hopes that the world might follow suit.

"The balance is shifting towards where you would start to expect emissions to go down, but it will take some time," Glen Peters, at the CICERO Centre for International Climate Research said.

Another report issued by the Climate Action Tracker research group warned that by the end of this century, global warming is projected to reach 2.6C above pre-industrial levels due to current climate policies.

According to Dr Bill Hare, from the Climate Action Tracker team, "It is very clear that we have never had a better chance to do this. It's also clear that we've never been in a worse situation.”