National plans and targets are set to deliver only half of the required growth in renewable power by 2030.
Investments in renewable power, grids and flexibility, energy efficiency and conservation must increase dramatically to meet the renewable energy and efficiency goals.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi speaks at the ongoing COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan/Gilbert KoechThe International Renewable Energy Agency has called for ambitious strategies by countries on how they plan to cut emissions.
IRENA is worried that even if all announcements to date made in various climate talks were to be implemented, a significant carbon dioxide emission gap would still need to be closed by 2050.
IRENA’s World Energy Transition Outlook 2024 was released on Monday during the opening of the UN Climate Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera says Nationally Determined contributions provide the last opportunity this decade for countries to set up their stated ambitions.
“We have reached crunch time. A robust global finance deal and the next NDCs in 2025 are ‘make or break’ moments to keep 1.5°C alive. NDCs 3.0 provide the last opportunity this decade for countries to step up their stated ambitions.
Particularly, an agreement on a new quantified goal for climate finance at COP29 is critical to ensure a just transition, support investments in the Global South and empower countries to step up their NDC ambitions. 1.5°C hinges on efforts by G20 countries. Their NDCs must match global commitments to triple renewable power capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030,” Camera said.
NDCs embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Kenya’s NDC seeks to abate greenhouse gas emissions by 32 per cent by 2030 in line with Kenya’s sustainable development agenda through a low-carbon and climate-resilient development pathway.
Environment CS Adan Duale speaks during the ongoing COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan/Gilbert Koech
The agency’s 1.5°C Scenario outlines a net-zero path by midcentury, offering a framework for governments to develop energy transition strategies that better align energy planning with climate policies to channel investment.
The Outlook shows that current country pledges could cut global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions by 3 per cent by 2030 and 51 per cent by 2050.
Achieving the global goals of tripling renewable power capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030, as agreed at COP28, would keep the energy transition on track for net-zero emissions by 2050.
These 2030 targets are crucial to limiting global temperature rise to below 1.5°C, as underscored by the UAE Consensus.
However, a significant gap remains between political announcements and actual county plans and policies.
National plans and targets are set to deliver only half of the required growth in renewable power by 2030.
Investments in renewable power, grids and flexibility, energy efficiency and conservation must increase dramatically to meet the renewable energy and efficiency goals, totalling USD 31.5 trillion from 2024-2030.
There are also large geographical disparities in terms of renewable additions and investments, causing inequalities in the global energy transition.
