[en] The 21. annual World Energy Markets Observatory (WEMO) reveals a world struggling to balance the desire for continued economic growth with the need to take deliberate and drastic steps against climate change. In 2018, global energy consumption rose 2.3 percent - nearly twice the average rate since 2010 - as driven by a robust worldwide economy. Despite the rapid growth of renewables in some regions, oil, gas and coal accounted for nearly three-quarters of the increase in total energy demand, their highest share in five years. As a result, greenhouse gas emissions climbed 2 percent globally, a significant break from the plateau of 2014 to 2016. While renewables remain the fastest-growing energy source worldwide, investments during the first half of 2019 declined 14 percent compared with the same period in 2018. Population growth, as well as a lack of anticipated technical breakthroughs over the next two decades, further contribute to a bleak medium- and long-term landscape. This year's WEMO report explores these issues in greater detail and presents new ideas for how utilities, policy-makers and private companies can embrace a long-term strategy that balances growth and change - and draws opportunity from crisis.