Page 5 - AsiaElec Week 24 2021

AsiaElec COMMENTARY AsiaElec

“The IEA looks forward to helping govern- Meanwhile, the urgency of the situation was
ments design and implement the strong policy highlighted this week by a new report from
actions that are needed to move the world onto REN21, a group of energy community actors
a narrow yet achievable pathway to net zero by from science, governments, NGOs and industry,
2050. In the lead-up to COP26 in November, called Renewables 2021 Global Status Report.
I look forward to seeing additional firm com- It stressed that Fifteen G20 countries lacked
mitments to improve and increase clean energy a 2020 target for renewable energy covering
financing for developing economies.” all sectors, and that fossil fuel’s share in energy
Indeed, Birol’s comments highlighted that consumption had not decreased for the tenth
although the G7 leaders this week set out broad consecutive year, standing at 80.2% in 2019 and
targets, there is little detail about the policies 80.3% in 2009.
they will implement to meet these targets, or “We are waking up to the bitter reality that
how the new generation of clean energy financ- the climate policy promises over the past ten
ing will be structured, particularly for develop- years have mostly been empty words. The share
ing economies. The IEA referred to the net zero of fossil fuels in final energy consumption has
by 2050 goal as “narrow but still achievable.” not moved by an inch,” said Rana Adib, REN21’s
For example, the IEA’s Roadmap, which was Executive Director.
published in May, called for annual additions of “We don’t just need net-zero targets. We need
solar PV capacity to reach 630 GW by 2030, and net-zero roadmaps. And more than that, we
those of wind to reach 390 GW. need regulatory frameworks,” he added.
It also called for renewables to provide The report welcomed that global wind expan-
almost 90% of electricity by 2050, and that one- sion had reached a record 93 GW in 2020. How-
fifth of that electricity will be used to produce ever, the IEA’s roadmap says 390 GW per year
hydrogen. is needed from 2030 to reach net zero by 2050.
Crucially, the Roadmap called for global Yet despite such rapid increases in wind
investment in fossil fuel supply to fall from and indeed solar expansion, with 139 GW of
$575bn on average over the past five years to new solar in 2020, growing energy consump-
$110bn in 2050. tion worldwide means that fossil fuels’ share
Upstream fossil fuel investment should be of primary energy consumption has remained
restricted to maintaining production at existing unchanged for the period 2009-2019.
oil and natural gas fields. The G7 leaders have started with reining in
This week’s G7 summit failed to mention coal, but far more needs to be done to reduce oil
reining in spending on fossil fuels. and gas consumption and to accelerate the pace
of renewable expansion if global net zero is to be
Green investment reached by 2050.™

Week 24 16•June•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P5