Countries’ renewable energy plans fall short of target, says IRENA

Governments' targets and plans to speed up the use of renewable energy are set to deliver only half of the growth needed to reach a U.N. climate goal to triple capacity by 2030, a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) showed.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

The renewable energy goal set at the COP28 U.N. climate conference last year, as well as a target to double energy efficiency, are seen as crucial to keeping a 1.5 degree Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) warming limit this century within reach.

Countries have to update their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), or commitments to combat climate change, by February next year. Some are expected to announce them at the COP29 conference in November in Azerbaijan.

BY THE NUMBERS

The IRENA report tracked the progress of countries towards those goals. To meet the renewables target, installed capacity would have to grow from 3.9 terawatts (TW) today to 11.2 TW by 2030, requiring an additional 7.3 TW in under seven years.

But current plans are estimated to leave a gap of 3.8 TW by 2030, falling short of the goal by 34%.

Annual investment in renewable capacity needs to triple to $1.5 trillion each year from 2024 to 2030 from $570 billion last year, the report said.

The annual energy intensity improvement rate must also increase from 2% in 2022 to 4% between 2023 and 2030.

CONTEXT

An IEA report this week said renewable energy sources are set to meet nearly half of all electricity demand by the end of the decade but will fall short of the U.N. goal.

KEY QUOTE

"The COP28 goals of tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency are key enablers for our global efforts to keep 1.5C within reach but we risk missing them. The next NDCs must mark a turning point and bring the world back on track," said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s director general.