COP28 chief, groups, urge tripling renewable capacity by 2030 -October 30, 2023 at 02:00 am EDT

ABU DHABI, Oct 30 (Reuters) – The presidency of next
month’s COP28 climate summit and two renewable energy
organisations on Monday urged governments to triple renewable
energy capacity by 2030 as part of efforts to stop global
warming exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Countries hope to strike a deal on the increase in capacity
at the latest round of global climate negotiations set to get
under way in Dubai in late November, which will focus on the
gaps in the implementation of the 2015 Paris Agreement that
established the 1.5°C ceiling.

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

Most major economies are already on board with that goal.
Group of 20 nations, among them China, the United States and
India, agreed in September to pursue efforts to triple global
renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Without rapid action to cut CO2 emissions, scientists
say Earth will cross the 1.5°C threshold in the coming decade,
unleashing far more severe climate change effects on people,
wildlife and ecosystems.

However, striking a deal among the nearly 200 countries that
attend COP28 meetings will not be easy. European nations and
climate-vulnerable states argue that it is not enough to agree
to scale up clean energy, if countries do not also agree to quit
the polluting energy that is causing climate change.

They say a renewable energy deal at COP28 must be paired
with a commitment to phase out CO2-emitting fossil fuels – a
pledge that has faced resistance from Saudi Arabia, Russia and
other fossil fuel-reliant economies.

“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.

Guiding the COP28 talks will be the UAE’s Sultan
al-Jaber, a choice that has drawn criticism from some U.S. and
EU lawmakers as well as campaigners as he is the boss of state
oil giant ADNOC, and the UAE’s climate envoy.

The report also called for doubling energy efficiency,
urging targets with specific time frames, strong regulatory
frameworks, financial incentives and awareness campaigns.
(Reporting by Yousef Saba and Kate Abnett, editing by Deborah
Kyvrikosaios)