Sultan Al-Jaber, the president of the ongoing 28th meeting of the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP28), on Saturday, said 117 countries have endorsed a commitment to triple the world’s renewable energy capacity by 2030.
The COP28 president disclosed this while speaking at the World Climate Action Summit at the ongoing COP28 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, on Saturday.
According to Premium Times, Sultan Al-Jaber said the countries will “work together” to bring global renewable energy generation capacity to at least 11,000 gigawatts by the end of the decade.
He also noted that the countries are committed to working together to collectively double the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements to more than four per cent per year.
“But I do need more,” he said, “and I’m kindly requesting all parties to come on board as soon as possible, please. This can and will help transition the world away from unabated coal.”
He also said: “The world will break down if we don’t fix the energies we use today. The world will break down if we don’t mitigate the emissions on a gigaton scale. And the world can potentially break down if we don’t rapidly transition to zero-carbon alternatives.”
Renewable energy is energy produced from sources like the sun and wind that are naturally replenished and do not run out. It can be used for electricity generation, space and water heating and cooling, and transportation.
Transitioning to clean and affordable energy has been one of the pivotal points of this year’s COP conversation. World leaders at COP have been calling for the need to upscale energy transition efforts and sustainable climate financing for vulnerable countries.
Reacting to the development, Global Renewables Alliance described the pledge by the 117 countries as a “historic milestone” in the drive to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
However, the group said it would require transformational action in every region of the world to deliver the fundamental shift in the global energy system that is needed.
“Governments must immediately focus on agreeing unambiguous language in the negotiated outcome text of COP28 and establish a forum for holding governments accountable, which will deliver the market signals to unlock investment,” the group said.
It said action and accountability must be the next steps if the pledge is to deliver on its high ambitions.
“117 countries committing to tripling global renewables by 2030 is a huge achievement at COP28. This pledge signals the start of a new energy paradigm and a once in a generation opportunity to transition to a clean, secure and just energy system,” Bruce Douglas, CEO of Global Renewables Alliance, said.
He emphasised that countries now need to turn the ambition into action and hold policymakers accountable to deliver on their commitments.
“To get there, we need the tripling to be reflected in updated NDCs, with increased national targets and rapid implementation across the key enablers,” he said.
