A major international report shows that international efforts to reduce coal, oil, and gas production in line with limiting warming to 1.5°C are on track to fall catastrophically short.

The Production Gap Report 2023 finds that global governments plan to produce more than double –110% more fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C, and 69% more than would be consistent with 2°C.

The report assesses international governments’ planned and projected production of coal, oil, and gas against global levels consistent with the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal

“The Production Gap Report confirms what we already know in Australia – there is not just a gap, there is an enormous chasm between the Australian government’s rhetoric and the reality of its action on climate,” said Polly Hemming, Director of the Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program.

“The report not only places Australia among the world’s largest fossil fuel exporters, it demonstrates that Australia has a unique role in reducing global emissions.

“There is no scenario in which new gas and coal mines are compatible with a 1.5°C world. The concept of ‘abated’ fossil fuels is a dangerous fantasy used by the fossil fuel industry and its enablers.”

The 2023 Production Gap Report: “Phasing down or phasing up? Top fossil fuel producers plan even more extraction despite climate promises” is produced by Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Climate Analytics, E3G, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).