Nearly 120 countries have committed to triple the installed renewable capacity and double the rate of energy efficiency improvement by 2030 with the signing of the Global Commitment on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency launched by the presidency of the Dubai climate summit, COP28.

This would mean reaching 11,000 gigawatts of renewable capacity in less than 7 years and raising the rate of energy efficiency improvement from 2 to 4% per year.

Signatories include the United States, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Japan, Mexico and the European Union, together with member states such as Spain, France, Portugal and Italy. Notable absentees include China, India and Russia.

These objectives are in line with the proposals defended by the International Energy Agency and the International Renewable Energy Agency, which are supported by the European Union and the G20, a group that brings together the world’s largest economies, in terms of renewables and efficiency.

The European position

The EU will also argue at COP28 that achieving the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees requires a global phase-out of fossil fuels and a peak in their consumption as early as this decade.

To this end, it calls for an end to the use of all fossil fuels in the energy sector by 2050 because there are already competitive technologies to replace them.

For the remaining uses of fossil fuels, such as aviation and shipping, the EU advocates their continued use only when they are accompanied by CO2 capture and storage systems (such as synthetic fuels).

These technologies, still under development and known as CCS, should be reserved only for reducing emissions from sectors that are difficult to decarbonise so as not to divert the necessary investment in renewables.

COP28

The commitment initialled today in Dubai, which is open for further accessions, seeks to drive transformational change through policy formulation, planning and effective major investments, the COP28 Presidency has stressed.

This is important because the rapid expansion of renewable energy is one of the best tools to reduce emissions and because energy efficiency is seen as the “first fuel of the transition” that can contribute significantly to reducing energy consumption.

Energy is inextricably linked to all the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and transforming the world’s energy systems will create new jobs, improve lives and livelihoods, and empower individuals, communities and societies, according to the same source, which did not name the signatory countries at this stage.

Source: EuroEFE