As part of attempts to prevent global warming from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius, the president of the COP28 climate summit next month and two organisations dedicated to renewable energy urged states on Monday to treble the capacity of renewable energy sources by 2030.

At the most recent round of international climate discussions, which will centre on the shortcomings in the execution of the 2015 Paris Agreement that established the 1.5°C threshold, countries want to reach an agreement on the capacity increase. The round of talks is scheduled to begin in Dubai in late November.

According to a joint report by the Global Renewables Alliance, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and the United Arab Emirates’ COP28 chair, renewable energy capacity “must reach more than 11,000 GW” by 2030.

The majority of significant economies already support that objective. A group of twenty countries, including China, the US, and India, decided in September to work towards tripling the world’s renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Scientists predict that Earth will cross the 1.5°C threshold in the next ten years, causing significantly more severe effects of climate change on humans, wildlife, and ecosystems if CO2 emissions are not reduced quickly.

It won’t be simple to get an agreement among the almost 200 nations that participate in COP28 sessions, though. European countries and states that are sensitive to climate change contend that merely agreeing to increase the use of renewable energy is insufficient if governments do not also decide to give up the polluting energy that is driving climate change.

They contend that a deal on renewable energy at COP28 needs to be accompanied with a guarantee to phase out fossil fuels that release greenhouse gases, a goal that has run afoul of Saudi Arabia, Russia, and other economies that depend on fossil fuels.

“You cannot just have the renewables goal and then call the COP a success,” European Union climate policy chief Wopke Hoekstra told an event in Brussels on Friday.

Sultan al-Jaber of the United Arab Emirates, the head of state oil company ADNOC and the country’s climate envoy, will lead the COP28 negotiations. This decision has been met with criticism from several MPs in the US and the EU as well as activists.

In addition, the research recommended doubling energy efficiency and pushed for time-bound goals, robust legal frameworks, financial incentives, and public awareness campaigns.

(Adapted from Reuters.com)

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