As world leaders finish the UN Climate Action Summit, new and updated national climate plans (NDCs) reveal strong momentum on renewable energy.
More than 75%of NDCs now include quantified targets for renewable deployment, a milestone that underscores growing recognition of renewables as essential for climate, energy security and prosperity.
The Global Renewables Alliance welcomed the progress, calling NDCs more than climate pledges. “NDCs are much more than climate plans, they are a roadmap for delivering clean jobs, reinvigorated economies and shared global growth,” said Ben Backwell, Chair of the Alliance and CEO of the Global Wind Energy Council.
While renewables already supply over 30% of global electricity and investment reached a record 700 billion dollars in 2024, the gap between ambition and the 1.5°C pathway remains significant.
Thinktank EMBER estimates that 92% of countries have renewable potential more than ten times their current demand, highlighting vast untapped opportunities.
Kenya’s President William Ruto emphasised this at the summit, noting that “endless debate continues over fossil fuel reserves, while our immense endowments in sunlight, wind and geothermal lies underutilised.”
To bridge the gap, the Alliance urged governments to accelerate delivery by publishing detailed renewable energy plans with specific technology targets, removing barriers such as slow permitting and underinvestment in grids, embedding renewable goals into national strategies and – scaling finance for emerging economies where 89% of NDCs are conditional on external support.
Bruce Douglas, CEO of the Global Renewables Alliance, said: “The renewables industry is delighted to see clear targets and sectoral plans providing market certainty, but policy must now catch up with industry. Governments must ensure their targets are specific and actionable, combined with long term energy plans, to enable industry to deliver the 3x renewables objective.”
Renewables already represent the cheapest source of power in most markets, accounting for more than 90% of new power capacity worldwide in 2024.
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