Governments are increasing fossil fuel production in violation of climate goals

Good morning, and welcome to a new economics blog.

Is current global fossil fuel production compatible with climate goals? The answer is a resounding no, researchers report in a new Production Gap Report . Plans to tap new sources of coal, gas, and oil are not slowing down, but are actually increasing. If all these plans proceed, the world will emit twice as much _CO2 as necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels – as agreed in the Paris Agreement.

For this report—published by the Stockholm Environment Institute, the think tank Climate Analytics, and the International Institute for Sustainable Development—researchers analyzed the government plans of the world's twenty largest fossil fuel producers. These countries, including the United States, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, are responsible for 80 percent of global fossil fuel production. Only three countries plan to reduce their production, while eleven countries plan to increase it. The rest remain unchanged.

This also caught our attention this morning:

• Consumer confidence in the economy remained low for the third consecutive month in September, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The institute's consumer confidence score is well below the average of the past twenty years.
• Turkey has ended several tariffs on imports from the United States, Reuters reports. These are tariffs the country imposed in 2018, in response to tariffs imposed by US President Trump during his first term. The tariffs applied to a wide range of products, including cars, fruit, tobacco, and some chemicals.
• Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is pursuing a major acquisition of anti-obesity drug manufacturer Metsera, worth $7.3 billion. The American pharmaceutical giant is seeking a share of the lucrative market for anti-obesity drugs after its own development efforts have been delayed, The Financial Times reports .