The COP28 Presidency, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA) have released a joint report outlining how to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency improvements by 2030.
Both of these goals have been identified by multiple parties, including the International Energy Agency and the G20, as crucial to reaching the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The new report offers a pathway for governments and the private sector to work towards these targets.
The report identifies five key enablers for meeting the renewable energy and energy efficiency gains: infrastructure and system operation, policy and regulation, building resilient supply chains, scaling up public and private finance, and enhancing international collaboration.
“Our mission is as clear as it is urgent: We need concerted action to triple renewable power capacity by 2030,” said Francesco La Camera, director-general of IRENA. “This includes urgently addressing deeply entrenched systemic barriers across infrastructure, policy, and institutional capacities stemming from the fossil-fuel era. IRENA’s World Energy Transitions Outlook, which provides the analytical foundation of this report, warns that the energy transition is dangerously off-track, demanding immediate, radical collective action. This report outlines actions governments must prioritize to fast-track the global energy transition and keep 1.5 °C alive.”
Report Emphasizes Dramatic Shifts for Energy Sector, Policies for Structural Change
Recommendations from the report explain how to rapidly shift worldwide energy use, including support from policy measures and changes in multiple sectors’ organizational structure that allow for the adoption of renewables and efficiency gains.
The global renewables capacity will reportedly need to reach 11,000 GW, with 90% of energy capacity additions coming from wind and solar power. The report also calls for the deployment of energy efficiency technologies in end-use sectors along with extensive electrification.
In order for these changes to take place, the report suggests strong regulatory frameworks, including specific time frames for improvements, energy efficiency standards, financial incentives, public campaigns to increase awareness of energy efficiency, and green mobility efforts. Structural changes will reportedly need to take place within power sectors in order to integrate renewables, and infrastructure changes will need to include grid modernization and expansion to make way for renewables adoption as well.
The report states that annual investment in power generation must meet $1.3 trillion by 2030, up from $486 billion in 2022. Further, investment must support the energy transition in the Global South. International collaboration will be required for a just energy transition, says the report, and North-South dialogues will need to be cultivated in this process.
“These steps will deliver cleaner electricity systems, open up access to affordable energy, and deliver clean green jobs for millions of people,” said Bruce Douglas, CEO of Global Renewables Alliance. “The rapid upscaling of renewable energy will require policymakers to work hand-in-hand with industry and civil society to urgently implement the enabling actions in this report–infrastructure and system operation; policy and regulation; and supply chains, skills, and capacities.”