The G7 economies comprising the world's richest countries have set their sights on doubling renewable energy capacity by 2030, an analysis conducted by the global energy think-tank Ember has said. However, this falls short of the more ambitious target agreed upon at the UN climate conference in Dubai the previous year, which aimed to triple global renewable energy capacity by the same deadline.
At the UN's COP28 climate change conference in December, leaders from around the world, including all G7 members, forged a historic agreement to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030. However, Ember's analysis suggests that the G7 nations need to realign their targets to meet this commitment.
Katye Altieri, an electricity analyst at Ember, emphasized the need for the G7 to update their targets in light of the COP28 agreement. She stated, "Last year, the G7 agreed targets for solar and offshore wind. Given the COP28 agreement, these goals are now outdated and need to be aligned with a tripling of global renewables." Altieri also pointed out that the rapid acceleration of solar energy installations demonstrates that the goal of tripling renewable energy capacity is increasingly attainable.
The International Energy Agency underscores the importance of tripling global renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency to mitigate climate change effectively and limit the average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
This highlights the urgency for G7 nations and the global community as a whole to accelerate efforts in transitioning towards renewable energy sources and enhancing energy efficiency measures.
A tripling of renewable capacity would require the G7 to reach 2.7 TW by 2030, leaving a 0.7 TW gap between current targets and a tripling-aligned goal. Italy, this year's host of the G7, along with Germany and the UK, are leading the way with 2030 targets that are more than doubling of the 2022 capacity.
However, France and Japan are lagging behind their G7 partners with targets well below a tripling.
