Countries' plans not yet aligned with tripling renewables capacity goal

04 June 2024 - 14:46 By Nina Chestney
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Countries' climate plans are not yet in line with a goal to triple renewable energy capacity worldwide by 2030 set at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai last year.
Countries' climate plans are not yet in line with a goal to triple renewable energy capacity worldwide by 2030 set at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai last year.
Image: 123RF/VACLAW VOLRAB

Countries' climate plans are not yet in line with a goal to triple renewable energy capacity worldwide by 2030 set at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai last year, a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday.

Why it's important

The target would involve increasing installed renewable energy capacity to at least 11,000GW by the end of the decade, compared with 4,209GW in 2023.

Few countries — 14 of 194 — have included specific targets for renewable power capacity for 2030 in their commitments under the Paris Agreement climate pact, called nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

Official commitments in NDCs amount to 1,300GW — 12% of what is required to meet the global tripling objective set in Dubai, the IEA said.

By the numbers

The domestic goals of governments in nearly 150 countries go further than commitments under NDCs, corresponding to almost 8,000GW of installed renewable capacity by 2030.

That means if countries were to include all their existing policies, plans and estimates in their new NDCs to be presented next year, they would reflect 70% of what is needed by 2030 to reach the tripling goal but the world would still be 30% short of the goal.

Context

Countries had to submit their new or updated NDCs every five years after 2020 so next year they have to include revised ambitions for 2030.

A UN climate meeting is taking place in Bonn, Germany, from June 3-13 to work on the new round of plans, among other issues such as climate finance.

Key quote

“This report makes clear the tripling target is ambitious but achievable — though only if governments quickly turn promises into plans of action,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol.

Reuters


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