200 Organisations Call For Setting Up Target At COP28 To Triple Renewable Energy Capacity

On the occasion of UN General Assembly and New York Climate Week, 200 organisations around the globe have written an open letter for tripling renewable energy capacity to at least 11,000 GW by 2030.

It call for robust mid-milestones to 2030 and beyond to facilitate supply chain development. It should be reflected in the Nationally Determined Contribution and national policies and schemes for grid scale renewable energy; investment in grid action plans; renewable energy partnerships and trade agreements; energy subsidies; carbon pricing; and renewable energy procurement by corporate. It will also accelerate achievement of  Sustainable Development Goal 7 on access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, says the letter.

Adoption is seen as a “quantum leap in climate action”. It will involve coming together of industry and the finance community, international partnerships for handholding  developing economies in terms of financial and technical support, new frameworks for investment in energy sector to build infrastructure, including transmission lines and supply chain hubs. The energy ecosystem needs to be dealt with holistically that includes doubling the energy efficiency by 2030 and electrification at scale.

Renewable energy is expected to lead to faster and efficient decarbonisation globally. Renewable energy is already changing the life of communities around the world. It is providing clean electricity to homes, cars and factories and creating green jobs. It is also attracting public and private capital and impacting economic growth. If renewable energy is tripled, it will not only lead to reduction of loss and damage caused by adverse impacts of climate change, but also pave the way towards a “sustainable, inclusive and climate resilient growth”.

Francesco La Camera, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency, says, “The business case for renewables has never been stronger. But we must urgently overcome the systemic barriers across infrastructure, policy, and institutional capabilities in the coming years and build a new energy system that is run on renewables.”

The installed capacity of renewables globally has already witnessed an increase “at a faster year on year rate of almost 11% in 2022…”, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) report, Electricity Market Report 2023.

The report adds, “Our outlook for 2023 to 2025 shows that  renewable power generation is set to increase more than all other sources combined, with an annualised growth of over 9%.”

Bruce Douglas, CEO of the Global Renewables Alliance says, “Renewables industry is ready, willing and able to step up but we need policymakers to take urgent action to deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement. We must achieve a crucial breakthrough at COP28 by agreeing on a global renewables target of at least 11,000 GW by 2030, and start implementing the key enablers like accelerated permitting for projects, investment in grids and sustainable supply chains.”