As countries around the world experienced record temperatures last year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “We must turn a year of burning heat into a year of burning ambition.”
However, to move away from fossil fuels and unlock the green transition’s economic benefits, such as job creation and universal access to clean energy, industry leaders and policymakers must work together to translate the commitments made at the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), (COP28) into actual renewable gigawatts (GW).
COP28 marked a historic turning point in the battle against climate change.
Rallying around the UAE Consensus, world leaders pledged to move away from fossil fuels and agreed to triple renewable power capacity to at least 11,000GW and to double energy efficiency by 2030.
However, ambition alone is not enough to achieve these targets and limit global warming to 1.5°C.
Governments must invest in mature, cost-competitive renewable technologies that can be rapidly deployed at scale. When integrated with long-duration energy storage, green hydrogen and system optimization, these technologies represent the most reliable and flexible way to accelerate the energy transition.
Renewables would undoubtedly shape the global energy landscape in the coming years.
Solar and wind power are expected to grow significantly, with hydropower serving as the backbone of grid flexibility. Consequently, renewables are poised to become the 21st century’s dominant source of global electricity.
Tripling renewable capacity would require cooperation between the private and public sectors, a joint report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA) ahead of COP28 said.
Partnerships should focus on initiatives that deliver immediate results, such as mobilizing low-cost financing, accelerating permitting processes, clearing grid connection backlogs, reforming government auction mechanisms for renewable energy projects and diversifying global supply chains.
A strong commitment to inclusivity and the active participation of developing economies must be at the heart of these efforts.
IRENA and GRA are demonstrating this commitment by collaborating on the annual reports commissioned by the COP28 Presidency to monitor progress toward the global tripling target and facilitate the energy transition.
However, we must move faster, especially if we aim to ensure that progress is equitably distributed around the world.
While renewable power capacity rose by 473GW last year, the economic benefits of the energy transition did not reach every country.
Remarkably, 83 percent of these increases were concentrated in China, the EU and the US, leaving many countries in the global south behind.
REFORMS NEEDED
In fact, the shift to renewables is alarmingly slow in many parts of the world.
Opportunities to address development and access challenges in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 500 million people still lack access to electricity, are being squandered.
This sluggish transition can be attributed largely to the lack of affordable financing, adequate planning, and the policy and market frameworks needed to support the adoption of renewable energy.
Tellingly, public fossil fuel subsidies reached US$1.3 trillion in 2022 — roughly the annual investment needed to triple renewable capacity by 2030.
A critical first step toward fostering greater public-private cooperation in pursuit of COP28’s ambitious targets is to reform the global financial architecture.
Africa, for example, accounts for 17 percent of the world’s population, but has received less than 2 percent of global investments in renewable energy over the past two decades, underscoring the need to reduce capital costs and attract private investors.
Developing industrial clusters and initiating grant programs could also help foster environments conducive to innovation and private-public partnerships.
Recent commitments by world leaders offer glimmers of hope.
African leaders at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi last year, for example, pledged to increase the continent’s renewable capacity to at least 300GW by 2030. This effort aims to reduce energy poverty and boost the global supply of cost-effective clean energy suitable for industrial use.
In the words of Kenyan President William Ruto, a key advocate of the Nairobi agreement, today’s energy crisis is “a wake-up call that fossil fuels are the opposite of freedom, yet the world has become shackled to them. We need to break free from those chains.”
To this end, Ruto established the Accelerated Partnership for Renewables in Africa, an international alliance of governments and stakeholders that aims to accelerate renewable energy deployment, increase access, promote green industrialization, and strengthen economic and societal resilience.
Governments and business leaders should harness the current political momentum to foster cooperation between policymakers and private investors.
As governments develop appropriate policy and market frameworks to facilitate the transition to renewables, the private sector — historically responsible for 86 percent of global investments in renewable energy — is poised to lead the charge.
Together, we can achieve a clean, secure and just energy future. However, to realize this vision, we must act fast.
Francesco La Camera is the director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency. Bruce Douglas is the CEO of the Global Renewables Alliance.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
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