World fails first review of COP renewable energy goal

By Zia Weise | 10/15/2024 06:15 AM EDT

A dramatic spending surge is needed to course correct, the International Renewable Energy Agency warned.

Wind turbines and solar panels on a campus near Cagliari in the island of Sardinia.

IRENA’s progress assessment finds the world falling short on almost every measure, aside from solar power. Giovanni Grezzi/AFP via Getty Images

BRUSSELS — Reaching the landmark renewable energy targets agreed at last year’s global climate summit will remain a distant dream unless the world invests more than $30 trillion over the next six years.

That’s the stark warning the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) delivered Friday at the final ministerial meeting ahead of next month’s United Nations climate summit in Azerbaijan, known as COP29, where financing for climate action will take center stage.

At last year’s COP28 conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, countries pledged to collectively triple the world’s renewable energy capacity and double energy-saving efforts by 2030. The commitments were hailed as key to limiting global warming in line with the Paris Agreement.

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IRENA’s first progress assessment, published Friday, gives the world a failing grade across the board. For the tripling target, the agency found that countries are on track for only half the renewable power growth required to meet the goal.

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