Energy companies must halt all new oil and gas exploration projects starting this year if they want to keep global warming under controlwarned the International Energy Agency (IEA). This warning is contained in a report that points out ways to achieve zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, to comply with the Paris Agreement.

In addition to drastically cutting fossil fuel consumption, more would also need to be spent on low-carbon technologies, rising from the current $2 trillion to $5 trillion. "We need a historic increase in investment," IEA leader Fatih Birol told the Financial Times, adding that this would increase world GDP growth by 0.4% per year.

Dave Jones, an analyst at the Ember institute for climate studies, says this call is surprising: "Nobody expected that from the IEA. It's a big turnaround on their part." "They've been very pro-fossil fuel, so to launch something like this is just amazing... This is really a knife in the fossil fuel industry," he added.

The agency acknowledges that this reduction will be severe for some producers, as the share of fossil fuels in global energy supply must fall from about four-fifths now to one-fifth by 2050, with solar energy becoming the world's main source. "Countries whose economies depend on oil and gas revenues will face enormous challenges," acknowledged IEA director Fatih Birol.