The world is falling behind on its renewable energy and efficiency goals despite record progress last year, confirms a new report released recently by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the COP30 Brazilian Presidency, and the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA) during a pre-COP30 high-level event in Brasília.
In 2024, global renewable capacity additions reached an unprecedented 582 GW. Yet this is still not enough to stay on track for the COP28 UAE Consensus target of tripling renewables to 11.2 TW by 2030. Meeting that goal now demands a staggering 1 122 GW of added capacity every year from 2025 onward, requiring annual growth to accelerate to 16.6% through the decade.
The progress report, Delivering on the UAE Consensus: Tracking progress toward tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030 also highlights that energy efficiency is an equally great concern. Global energy intensity improved by just 1% in 2024, far below the 4% annual gains needed to meet the UAE Consensus goal and keep the 1.5°C target alive.
The report calls for urgent action to:
i) integrate renewable targets into national climate plans (NDC 3.0) ahead of COP30 in Belém; ii) double collective NDC ambition to align with the global renewables goal; and iii) scale investment in renewables to at least USD 1.4 trillion per year in 2025–2030 – more than doubling the USD 624 billion invested in 2024.
