Renewable energy supply in eight major economies will collectively more than double by 2030 due to new national climate and energy plans, according to a study by the think tank World Resources Institute (WRI). Total clean energy supply from eight of the world’s 10 largest greenhouse gas emitters – Brazil, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico and the United States – will jump to 20,000 terawatt hours (TWh) from around 9,000 TWh in 2009. That is equivalent to India’s current energy demand. “These new renewable energy targets send strong signals to energy markets and investment circles,” said Jennifer Morgan, Global Director, Climate Program, WRI.
“Combined with the Paris climate agreement, it’s clear that renewable energy is poised to surge forward in the next 15 years bringing clean and affordable power to millions of people worldwide.” These economies are among many which have announced new renewables targets in the past 12 months ahead of a United Nations’ climate conference in Paris from November 30 to December 11 to fight global warming from 2020. Canada and Russia, which are also among the world’s top 10 emitting countries, were not included in the study because they have not announced post-2020 renewable energy targets. So far, plans submitted to the UN by around 150 countries to cut greenhouse gases will only slow climate change and not limit rising global temperatures to two degrees Celsius, a threshold seen by scientists as avoiding the worst effects of climate change.
