IRENA Warns: Current Plans Falling Short of Tripling Renewable Energy by 2030

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has issued a warning that current plans and targets are not sufficient to meet the global goal of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030. Despite a record growth in renewable energy last year, the world is falling short of the necessary growth to reach the target.

IRENA’s assessment, released on Friday, reveals that current national plans would only deliver half of the required growth in renewable power by the end of the decade. The target of tripling renewables to 11.2 terawatts by 2030 would fall short by 34% without improvement in planned capacity additions for all renewable technologies except solar power.

IRENA emphasized the need for onshore wind to triple, and for offshore wind and geothermal energy to increase by six and almost 35 times respectively compared to their 2023 capacity. The agency’s Director-General, Francesco La Camera, expressed concern that the energy transition is not on track and that goals are at risk of being missed.

At the COP28 climate summit last year, nearly 200 countries committed to tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Despite a record addition of 473 gigawatts of renewable power capacity in 2023, the growth rate remains insufficient and needs to increase to 16.4% annually to meet the 2030 target.

IRENA highlighted that annual investments in renewables are only a third of the $1.5 trillion needed each year until 2030, despite reaching a record high of $570 billion in 2023. The agency also noted that investments are concentrated in a few regions, with 84% of renewable capacity investments in China, the EU, and the US.

The upcoming COP29 in November is expected to address a new collective quantified goal for finance to support climate action in developing countries. However, deep divisions persist on key issues, which may impact the level of ambition in rolling out renewables in developing countries.

IRENA stressed the need for updated national climate action plans to double existing renewable energy targets and align with national energy plans to attract more private sector investment. The agency also called for addressing barriers and bottlenecks slowing down progress, including inadequate infrastructure, fiscal policies, and permitting delays.

Countries have also made little progress in boosting energy efficiency, which needs to double to at least 4% annually to meet the COP28 target. Urgent actions and increasing electrification across all sectors are necessary to meet the goals set at the climate summit.

In conclusion, IRENA’s report underscores the urgent need for countries to step up their efforts to meet the global target of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030. Failure to do so could result in missing crucial climate goals and exacerbating the effects of global warming.