Clean Electricity Satisfies All New Demand, Yet Global Warming Persists, Ember Finds

In a report released in early 2026, the independent energy analysis group Ember asserted that the year 2025 marked the first occasion on which newly required electricity generation worldwide was entirely supplied by renewable and other low‑carbon sources, effectively eliminating any need for additional coal‑ or gas‑fired capacity and thereby signalling what the think tank described as the beginning of the end for conventional fossil‑fuel power plants.

The data presented by Ember, which aggregates generation statistics from national grid operators and market monitors, indicated that while the cumulative share of clean electricity continued to rise, the total volume of electricity demand grew at a rate that could be accommodated without commissioning any new fossil‑fuel units, a development that the organization credited to accelerated investments in wind, solar, battery storage and grid modernization across both developed and emerging economies.

Nonetheless, the same analysis highlighted that surface temperature anomalies continued to climb at a pace comparable to previous years, a contradiction that Ember interpreted as evidence that the sectoral shift in power supply, however impressive in its technical execution, is insufficient to counteract the inertia embedded in other emission‑intensive activities such as industry, transport and land‑use change, thereby exposing the systemic shortfall of relying on incremental clean‑energy integration without accompanying policy measures to curb overall greenhouse‑gas emissions.

The report consequently underscored the paradox that, despite the apparent cessation of new coal and gas projects in the power sector, the broader climate trajectory remains unchanged, a situation that critics argue reflects a lack of coordinated governance, delayed implementation of carbon‑pricing mechanisms, and the persistence of subsidies that continue to favour non‑energy‑related emitters, suggesting that the apparent success in meeting new electricity demand with clean sources may be more a testament to market momentum than to decisive institutional action.

Published: April 21, 2026