By Justine Calma , a senior science reporter covering energy and the environment with more than a decade of experience. She is also the host of Hel

Tripling renewable energy capacity is ‘within reach,’ report says

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2024-09-25 13:00:02

By Justine Calma , a senior science reporter covering energy and the environment with more than a decade of experience. She is also the host of Hell or High Water: When Disaster Hits Home, a podcast from Vox Media and Audible Originals.

Nearly 200 countries have pledged to triple global renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade — a goal that’s “within reach” as long as governments act fast, according to a new report.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) released its roadmap today for how countries can make it happen. It’s still a tough climb ahead with a hell of a lot new infrastructure needed. But falling costs and supportive policies can help them get there.

“To ensure the world doesn’t miss this huge opportunity, the focus must shift rapidly to implementation,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said in a press release.

An international commitment to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 came out of the United Nations climate summit in Dubai last December. Representatives from each government meet annually to try to work together on climate change, striving to achieve goals set under the 2015 Paris agreement of preventing global warming from reaching a point that would make it much harder for countries to adapt. To do so, countries are supposed to transition away from fossil fuels so that global greenhouse gas emissions reach net zero by 2050.