Set target to triple renewables at COP28

Over 200 Organizations across the globe have called in an open letter for a target at Cop28 to triple the renewable energy capacity by 2030.  

The open letter is being published on the occasion of the UN General Assembly and New York Climate Week in September 2023 by a global group of climate and energy organizations.

These organizations call for world leaders and Parties to the Paris Agreement to agree on a global target to triple renewable energy capacity to at least 11,000 Giga Watt by 2030 at COP28 this year.

“While each country and region will adopt a nationally determined approach to this common target, there are universal enablers for accelerating renewable energy. The renewables industry, investors and other key stakeholders stand ready to work together with governments to scale up deployment, however, urgent action to implement this global target,” the letter read.

According to a press release of Global Renewable Alliance, who lead the initiative, the COP28 presidency, policymakers and heads of international energy agencies are already convening around a shared target to triple global renewable energy capacity to at least 11,000 GW by 2030. That means accelerating build-out of wind power, solar power, hydropower and geothermal power, which would set the stage for technologies like long-duration storage and green hydrogen to take off.

“This would ensure energy systems are not only clean, but secure and just, and in turn, form the foundation of a net zero global energy system by 2050, the press release reads.

“A global target to 2030 sends a clear signal to governments, industry, investors and civil society on the unprecedented scale and speed of renewables deployment required over the next seven years to limit global warming to a 1.5-degree Celsius pathway. It also builds upon the recognition of the urgency to rapidly transform energy systems in this critical decade of action, secured at COP27 last year, the press release read.  

Last year, power sector emissions reached an all-time high and the UN assessed that no country is currently on a credible pathway to 1.5 degree Celsius. It is clear we need a profound course-correction of the energy system in this decade, and time is running out.

Renewable energy is already transforming communities around the world. It is powering homes, cars and factories with clean electricity; generating millions of green jobs; and attracting public and private capital to propel economic growth.

Tripling this activity represents an enormous opportunity to reduce the loss and damage for nature and people wrought by harmful climate change, and set the world on a path to sustainable, inclusive and climate-resilient growth.