Tripling renewables by 2030 is key action in IEA's net zero update

Releasing an update to its 2021 Net Zero Roadmap report on Tuesday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that the world's path to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius has narrowed in the past two years but remains open thanks to clean energy growth.

The agency stressed the need for bolder action in the current decade and the importance of international cooperation to achieve climate goals, with its executive director Fatih Birol, urging governments to separate climate from geopolitics.

IEA warned that delayed action would leave the 1.5 degree C goal dependent on the extensive use of costly and unproven carbon removal technologies.

Along with increased investment in fossil fuels and stubbornly high emissions, on the positive side, the past two years saw solar installations and electric car sales move in line with the milestones in the 2021 Net Zero by 2050 report, IEA said.

A key action in the net zero scenario is tripling global installed renewables capacity to 11,000 GW by 2030. This would account for the largest emissions reductions by the end of the decade. Furthermore, in the updated net zero pathway, the annual rate of energy efficiency improvements doubles, sales of electric vehicles and heat pumps surge and energy sector methane emissions drop by 75%. Together, these steps account for more than 80% of the reductions needed by the end of the decade.

The new zero pathway envisions an increase in global clean energy spending from USD 1.8 trillion (EUR 1.7trn) in 2023 to USD 4.5 trillion a year by the early 2030s.

Commenting on IEA’s update, Dave Jones, Global Insights Lead at energy think tank Ember, said: “Tripling renewable electricity is the single biggest action required this decade to secure a rapid shift away from fossil fuels. Electricity is the new oil, as clean electrification takes centre stage.”

"The biggest change to the 2021 report is the downgrading of carbon capture, hydrogen and bioenergy, and the upgrade awarded to renewables, efficiency and electrification,” he added.

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