Investments in renewable energies must quadruple to meet climate target - IRENA

Apr 5, 2023

This article is published in collaboration with Reuters

Wind turbines for renewable energy in landscape

Renewable energy deployment must grow from around 3,000 gigawatts annually today to over 10,000 GW in 2030. Image: Unsplash/publicpowerorg

Reuters

Our Impact

What's the World Economic Forum doing to accelerate action on Energy Transition?

The Big Picture

Explore and monitor how Energy Transition is affecting economies, industries and global issues

A hand holding a looking glass by a lake

Crowdsource Innovation

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

Energy Transition

Global investments in energy transition technologies must more than quadruple annually, says the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
In total, the world needs around $35 trillion for transition technology by 2030, Reuters reports.
IRENA called for directing planned fossil fuel investments toward renewable energy technologies and infrastructure.

Global investments in energy transition technologies must more than quadruple annually to stay in line with commitments made under the Paris climate accord, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said on Tuesday.

Investments in renewable energy technologies reached a record of $1.3 trillion last year but that figure must rise to around $5 trillion annually to meet the key Paris accord target of limiting temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, IRENA said.

In total, the world needs around $35 trillion for transition technology by 2030, including improving efficiency, electrification, grid expansion and flexibility, IRENA said.

Renewable energy deployment must grow from around 3,000 gigawatts annually today to over 10,000 GW in 2030, IRENA said, adding that more equality is needed in renewable expansion between industrial and developing countries.

New renewable energy projects in China, the European Union and the United States accounted for two thirds of installed capacity last year, while Africa accounted for only 1% of renewable capacity installed.

Discover

How is the World Economic Forum facilitating the transition to clean energy?

The Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2023 report showed that after a decade of progress, the global energy transition has plateaued amid the global energy crisis and geopolitical volatilities.

The World Economic Forum’s Centre for Energy and Materials is driving the transition to a “fit for 2050” energy system. It is a cross-industry platform building new coalitions and delivering insights required for a sustainable, secure and just energy future.

Learn more about our impact:

Clean energy in emerging economies: We are advancing country-specific renewable energy finance solutions for four of the biggest emerging and developing economies: India, Brazil, Nigeria and Indonesia. In the latter, a new solar and battery initiative is bringing 15MW of clean energy to the East Sumba region – enough to power 4,000 homes and avoid 5.5KtCO₂ yearly emissions.
Energy Transition Index: We have measured the progress of 120 countries on the performance of their energy systems, enabling policymakers and businesses to identify the necessary actions for the energy transition.
Mining and metals blockchain: We released a proof of concept to trace emissions across the value chain using blockchain technology, helping accelerate global action for country-specific financing solutions.
Clean power and electrification: We are accelerating the adoption of clean power and electric solutions in the next decade to help increase clean energy consumption threefold by 2030.

Want to know more about our centre’s impact or get involved? Contact us.

"A fundamental shift in the support to developing nations must put more focus on energy access and climate adaptation," IRENA' Director General Francesco La Camera said, calling on financial institutions to direct more funds towards energy transition projects with better conditions.

IRENA called for directing planned fossil fuel investments -around $1 trillion of fossil fuel investments per year by 2030 - toward renewable energy technologies and infrastructure.

Have you read?

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.