World not meeting 2030 renewable energy target: IEA

The United Nations is falling short of a goal agreed at UN climate talks to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 as part of efforts to curb global warming, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday.

An IEA analysis of policies, plans and estimates from almost 150 countries found they could reach 8,000 gigawatts of renewable capacity within six years.

This would be significantly less than the 11,000 GW pledged at the COP28 climate talks in Dubai late last year to meet the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

“Countries’ ambitions and implementation plans are not yet in line with the key goal set for COP28,” the IEA said.

“But governments have the tools to accelerate action in the coming months” through their nationally determined contributions, the Paris-based agency that advises developed countries said in a statement accompanying the analysis.

NDCs are targets set by each country to reduce planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions.

“The Triple Goal is ambitious but achievable – but only if governments quickly turn promises into action plans,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

The massive use of solar, wind and other renewable energy is crucial to achieving another major agreement reached at COP28: the transition away from fossil fuels.

Since the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015, the world has seen an average of 11 percent of new renewable energy generation installed annually as prices plummet.

Nearly 510 GW of renewable capacity was added last year alone, up 50 percent from 2022 and marking the fastest growth rate in two decades, the IEA said in a previous report.

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