BRASÍLIA — A new annual tracking report released today by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the COP28 Presidency, the incoming COP30 Brazilian Presidency and the Global Renewables Alliance warns that global progress toward the twin goals of tripling renewable‑energy capacity and doubling energy‑efficiency improvement by 2030 remains far too slow.
The report titled: Delivering on the UAE Consensus: Tracking progress toward tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030 was launched at a high‑level pre‑COP30 event in Brasília.
According to the findings, global installed renewable‑power capacity must increase from approximately 3.9 terawatts (TW) today to about 11.2 TW by 2030 to meet the tripling target, a rise of some 7.3 TW in under six years.
While 2023 saw a record addition of 473 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable capacity, nearly all of the growth came from solar PV, and many other technologies such as onshore/offshore wind, geothermal, bioenergy and marine energy are lagging.
The report further shows that deployment of renewables remains uneven geographically: Asia, Europe and North America combined account for about 85 % of global installed capacity with Africa’s share of installations remaining small.
The report signals that while momentum is growing in some areas (notably solar PV), the pace and scale of deployment across technologies, and the depth of energy‑efficiency gains, are not yet sufficient to stay on a pathway aligned with keeping global warming to 1.5 °C.
The authors warn that without stronger policy, accelerated investment and rapid infrastructure deployment, the targets set under the UAE Consensus at COP28 will be missed.
According to the report, major accelerations are required on several fronts including mobilizing investments at a much higher scale, integrating all renewable technologies (not only solar PV) more evenly, and resolving bottlenecks in permitting, grid infrastructure, transmission and storage.
It also calls for expansion of energy‑efficiency improvements across buildings, transport, industry and power sectors to raise the global improvement rate toward the 4 % annual goal, and ensuring that national pledges (NDCs) are revised upward ahead of COP30, with clear alignment of renewable and efficiency objectives with the UAE Consensus.
