COP28: More than 110 nations commit to tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030
More than 110 countries committed Saturday to triple renewable energy capacity worldwide by 2030 and double the annual rate of energy efficiency improvements. The deal came as world leaders gathered for a third day of the COP28 summit in Dubai.
Issued on: 02/12/2023
An image from the COP 28 UN climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on December 2, 2023.
© Peter Dejong, AP
By: FRANCE 24
More than 100 nations commit to tripling renewable energy capacity
More than a hundred countries have committed to triple renewable energy capacity worldwide by 2030 and double the annual rate of energy efficiency improvements.
G20 nations, which account for nearly 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, paved the way for a deal when they endorsed the renewable energy goal in September.
While supporters are expected to push for the pledge to be included in the final outcome of the talks, there are fears that the COP28 hosts were willing to shunt the more ambitious targets into voluntary deals.
Colombia joins call to end new fossil fuel development
Colombia on Saturday became one of the largest fossil fuel producers to join a group of climate vulnerable island nations calling to end new development of planet-heating coal, oil and gas.
According to a statement from the initiative, Colombian Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said it was “frightening” that governments around the world continued to plan to expand their fossil fuel exploitation.
Scientists, as well as the International Energy Agency and the UN’s Environment Programme, have warned that significant new development of coal, oil and gas is incompatible with the international community’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.
Calls for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty have been championed by a group of island nations, mainly in the Pacific, Caribbean and Asia.
Colombia’s announcement brings the group’s membership to 10 countries, while it also lists cities, the European Parliament and World Health Organization among its supporters.
US pledges $3 billion to green climate fund
US Vice President Kamala Harris told the UN’s COP28 conference that the United States will contribute $3 billion to a global climate fund – its first pledge since 2014.
“Today, we are demonstrating through action how the world can and must meet this (climate) crisis,” Harris told world leaders at the summit.
‘Find a breakthrough’, Pope Francis tells UN climate summit
Pope Francis, unable to attend the COP28 climate summit in person, called on world leaders on Saturday to find a breakthrough to tackle global rising temperatures, calling the destruction of the environment “an offence against God”.
In a speech read out by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin due to the pope’s ill health, he said: “I am with you because the destruction of the environment is an offence against God”.
“Brothers and sisters, it is essential that there be a breakthrough that is not a partial change of course, but rather a new way of making progress together.”
More than 110 countries join pledge to triple renewable energy
More than 110 countries have joined a pledge to triple the world's renewable energy by 2030, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
Von der Leyen called on "all of us to include these targets in the final COP decision”.
Whether governments and companies will rally the huge investments needed to hit the goal is an open question. While deployment of renewables like solar and wind has been surging globally for years, rising costs, labour constraints and supply chain issues have forced project delays and cancellations in recent months, costing developers like Orsted and BP billions of dollars in write-downs.
Getting the deal into the final UN climate summit decision would also require consensus among the nearly 200 countries present. While China and India have signalled support for tripling global renewable energy by 2030, neither has confirmed it will back the overall pledge – which pairs the ramp-up in clean power with a reduction in fossil fuel use.
South Africa, Vietnam, Australia, Japan, Canada, Chile and Barbados are among the countries already on board, officials said.
More than 20 nations call for tripling of nuclear energy
More than 20 countries have called for the tripling of world nuclear energy capacity as part of efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
A declaration endorsed by nations including the United States, Ghana, Japan and several European countries said nuclear energy plays a “key role” in reaching the goal of carbon neutrality
The use of nuclear energy as a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels is controversial as environmental groups are concerned about safety and the disposal of nuclear waste.
“We are not making the argument to anybody that this is absolutely going to be a sweeping alternative to every other energy source,” US climate envoy John Kerry said. “But we know because the science and the reality of facts and evidence tell us that you can’t get to net zero 2050 without some nuclear,” he said.
The aim is to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050 from 2020 levels.
The other countries that signed up to the declaration include the UK, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, South Korea, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and Reuters)
Over 110 countries support tripling renewables by 2030: EU chief
Dubai (AFP) – More than 110 countries want the COP28 climate negotiations to adopt a goal of tripling renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency by 2030, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday.
Issued on: 01/12/2023
Dubai (AFP) – More than 110 countries want the COP28 climate negotiations to adopt a goal of tripling renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency by 2030, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday.
Issued on: 01/12/2023
All credible pathways for achieving global carbon neutrality by mid-century depend on massively scaling up wind, solar, hydroelectric and other renewable energies, such as biomass
© Daniel ROLAND / AFP/File
The European Union first appealed for the new target earlier this year, and the cause has since been taken up by COP28 hosts the United Arab Emirates, then the G7 and G20 groups of nations.
G20 nations alone account for nearly 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Von der Leyen told leaders at the UN climate talks in Dubai that it was "fantastic" that more than 110 nations had already embraced the goal.
"I call now on all of us to include these targets in the final COP decision, because this sends a strong message to investors and consumers alike," she said from the podium.
The discussions about the renewables goal are both separate but closely linked to far more difficult negotiations about whether a final COP28 deal will commit nations to phasing down -- or phasing out -- all fossil fuels.
In September, when G20 nations committed to "encourage efforts" towards tripling renewables capacity, their final statement remained silent about the future role played by fossil fuels, which account for the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions.
All credible pathways for achieving global carbon neutrality by mid-century depend on massively scaling up wind, solar, hydroelectric and other renewable energies such as biomass to displace the demand for planet-heating oil, gas and coal.
This is "the single most important lever" for reducing carbon pollution from burning fossil fuels, and capping warming under the Paris Agreement's ambitious threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius compared with the pre-industrial period, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said.
There has already been progress. Between 2015 and 2022, renewable capacity increased on average by 11 percent each year.
Against a backdrop of soaring oil prices and energy insecurity linked to the war in Ukraine, the IEA forecasts unprecedented growth of about 30 percent in 2023.
Not all countries will have to make the same efforts to slash emissions. Of the 57 nations analysed by the think tank Ember, more than half were on track to meet or exceed their 2030 targets.
But other large emitters such as Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates still have plenty of room for improvement.
© 2023 AFP
The European Union first appealed for the new target earlier this year, and the cause has since been taken up by COP28 hosts the United Arab Emirates, then the G7 and G20 groups of nations.
G20 nations alone account for nearly 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Von der Leyen told leaders at the UN climate talks in Dubai that it was "fantastic" that more than 110 nations had already embraced the goal.
"I call now on all of us to include these targets in the final COP decision, because this sends a strong message to investors and consumers alike," she said from the podium.
The discussions about the renewables goal are both separate but closely linked to far more difficult negotiations about whether a final COP28 deal will commit nations to phasing down -- or phasing out -- all fossil fuels.
In September, when G20 nations committed to "encourage efforts" towards tripling renewables capacity, their final statement remained silent about the future role played by fossil fuels, which account for the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions.
All credible pathways for achieving global carbon neutrality by mid-century depend on massively scaling up wind, solar, hydroelectric and other renewable energies such as biomass to displace the demand for planet-heating oil, gas and coal.
This is "the single most important lever" for reducing carbon pollution from burning fossil fuels, and capping warming under the Paris Agreement's ambitious threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius compared with the pre-industrial period, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said.
There has already been progress. Between 2015 and 2022, renewable capacity increased on average by 11 percent each year.
Against a backdrop of soaring oil prices and energy insecurity linked to the war in Ukraine, the IEA forecasts unprecedented growth of about 30 percent in 2023.
Not all countries will have to make the same efforts to slash emissions. Of the 57 nations analysed by the think tank Ember, more than half were on track to meet or exceed their 2030 targets.
But other large emitters such as Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates still have plenty of room for improvement.
© 2023 AFP
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