The International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) says renewable energy needs to be scaled up at least six times faster for the world to start to meet the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.
Irena Director-General Adnan Z. Amin released the report titled Global Energy Transform: A roadmap to 2050 at the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue in Germany.
The 2015 Climate Accord seeks, at minimum, to limit average global temperature rise to well below 2 Degrees Celsius.
The report shows that there is a rapid decline of renewable energy technologies costs such as solar PV and wind.
Amin says, “In an era of accelerating change, the imperative to limit climate change and achieve sustainable growth is strengthening the momentum of the global energy transformation. The rapid decline in renewable energy costs, improving energy efficiency, widespread electrification, increasingly ‘smart’ technologies, continual technological breakthroughs and well-informed policy making all drive this shift, bringing a sustainable energy future within reach.”
He says while the transformation is gaining momentum, it must happen faster.
“Around two-thirds of global greenhouse gas stem from energy production and and use, which are at the core of efforts to combat climate change. To meet climate goals, progress in the power sector needs to accelerate further, while decolonisation of transport and heating must pick up steam.”
Amin says, “As this report makes clear that current and planned policies offer a comparatively slow path, whereby the world would exhaust its energy-related “carbon budget” in under 20 years, in terms of efforts to keep the global temperature rise below 2 Degrees Celsius. The budget for a 15 Degrees Celsius limit, meanwhile, would potentially run out in less than a decade.”
He says the energy system, consequently, requires rapid, immediate and sustained change.
“The deployment of renewables must increase at least six-fold compared to the levels set out in the current plans. The share of electricity in total energy use must double, with substantial electrification of transport and heat. Renewables would then make up two-thirds of energy consumption and 85% of power generation. Together with energy efficiency, this could deliver over 90% of the climate mitigation needed to maintain a two Degrees Celsius limit.”
