A global multi-stakeholder coalition highlights the urgency of action on the energy transition required from world leaders as they gather in New York with just 73 days to go until COP28.
New York, 18 September 2023 | Companies and organizations representing a market value of more than $12 trillion, responsible for the majority of global renewable energy deployment and from all six populated continents have published an open letter to world leaders calling for a target to triple renewable energy capacity to 11,000GW by 2030 to be agreed at COP28 later this year.
The call for action comes from a diverse cross-section of stakeholders in the energy sector: international governmental organizations, producers, buyers, supply chain actors, civil society, environmental groups and youth. Around half of the signatories are based in the Asia-Pacific region, Africa and Latin America. They are united by the transformative impact of tripling renewable power capacity by 2030 across the world, and the critical moment presented by COP28 for world leaders to turn ambitions into genuine action to maintain a 1.5°C pathway.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency’s World Energy Transitions Outlook (WETO) 2023, an immediate course-correction is needed in this decade to limit global warming to 1.5°C. This requires tripling of total global renewable power capacity by 2030 to at least 11,000 GW and doubling energy efficiency improvement rates. Around $4 trillion of annual investment in transition technologies would be needed to achieve the rapid deployment of wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal and other forms of renewable energy, which will lay the foundations for technologies such as green hydrogen and long-duration energy storage to scale up beyond 2030.
The open letter, initiated by the Global Renewables Alliance, underscores that “a step change this decade in renewable energy growth, combined with an increase in energy efficiency, will be the fastest and most cost-efficient way to decarbonise the global economy. It is one of the most impactful commitments that the global community can undertake now to secure a liveable future for all.”
Major initiators, supporters and signatories of the letter include the Global Renewables Alliance members, IRENA, the COP28 Presidency, UNIDO, The Nature Conservancy, the Climate Group, American Clean Power, RE100, WBCSD, We Mean Business, REN21, RMI and corporate entities including Adani, AES, Amazon, Apple, CIP, CEPSA, Corio, DNV, ERM, EY, GCL, Google, Huawei, Microsoft, Ørsted, PepsiCo, ReNew, SSE, TES, Unilever and Vestas. Altogether, market value for publicly listed signatories exceeds $12 trillion – equivalent to the combined GDP of Japan, India and Germany.
Read the full text of the letter here: https://globalrenewablesalliance.org/open-letter/.
Join the conversation online: #RenewablesNow #3xRenewables
The Global Renewables Alliance ( GRA) represents the leading international industry players and provides a unified renewable energy voice. Comprised of founding members the Global Wind Energy Council, the Global Solar Council, the International Hydropower Association, the International Geothermal Association, the Long Duration Energy Storage Council and the Green Hydrogen Organisation, the Alliance aims to increase ambition and accelerate the uptake of renewable energy across the world. #3xRenewables.
