A total of 116 countries have committed to tripling installed renewable capacity and doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency by 2030 with the signing of the Global Commitment on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency promoted by the presidency of the climate summit of Dubai, COP28.
This would mean reaching 11,000 gigawatts of renewable capacity in less than 7 years and increasing the rate of improvement in energy efficiency from 2% to 4% per year.
Among the signatories are the United States, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Japan, Mexico and the European Union, along with member states such as Spain, France, Portugal or Italy. Among the absences, those from China, India and Russia stand out.
Goals
These objectives are in line with the proposals defended by the International Energy Agency and the International Renewable Energy Agency, supported by the European Union and the G20, a group that brings together the largest economies in the world, in terms of renewables and efficient efficiency.
The EU will also defend at COP28 that achieving the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees requires the global phase-out of fossil fuels and a peak in their consumption already this decade.
To this end, it advocates the end of the use of all fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) in the energy sector before 2050, because there are already competitive technologies to replace them, sources familiar with the community position have explained to EFE. . .
For the rest of the uses of fossil fuels, such as aviation or shipping, the EU advocates that they continue to be used only when they are accompanied by CO2 capture and storage systems (such as, for example, synthetic fuels).
These technologies, still in development and called CCS in English, must be reserved only to reduce emissions from sectors that are difficult to decarbonize so as not to divert the necessary investment in renewables.
The commitment signed today in Dubai, open to new accessions, seeks to promote transformative change through policy formulation, planning and large effective investments, has been highlighted by the COP28 presidency.
According to the same source, this is important because the rapid expansion of renewable energy is one of the best tools to reduce emissions and because energy efficiency is considered the “first fuel of the transition” that can significantly contribute to reducing energy consumption. energy.
Energy is inextricably linked to all of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the transformation of the world’s energy systems will create new jobs, improve lives and livelihoods and empower people, communities. and the companies, according to the same source, which has not yet detailed the name of the signatory countries.
Europe calls for new entry routes
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, admitted this Saturday that “new sources of income” are needed for climate financing to go “from billions to trillions.”
“On climate finance, we need to go from billions to trillions. To get there, we need new sources of revenue. New taxes, green bonds and, of course, carbon pricing,” he wrote on the social network (formerly Twitter) the German politician, who is at the United Nations Climate Change Summit (COP28), in Dubai.
Over the next two years, the EU will invest €2.3 billion to support a global transition to clean energy.
And put the world back on track towards 1.5°C. pic.twitter.com/d78AyGhhT2
– Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 2, 2023
He added that “Strong Partnerships, such as ‘Global Gateway'”, are needed “more than ever”, the initiative with which the European Union intends to promote infrastructure development in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa, in addition to competing with a new transport route. Chinese silk.
