Following the 5th anniversary of the Paris Agreement this week, more than 100 leading renewable energy majors urge governments to immetiately scale-up climate action.
Namely, members of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) issued a call for action, noting that by placing a renewables-based energy transition at the top of an economic recovery from COVID-19, governments can foster economic resilience and secure a climate-safe future.
“In the shipping industry, COVID-19 has given us reason to urgently re-evaluate our pathway forward towards full decarbonisation and to facilitate a sustainable, resilient recovery. A wind propulsion and renewable energy derived fuel mix can deliver that, but that requires policies which shift our focus towards all forms of renewable energy for propulsion, enabling us to deploy the remaining depleted carbon budget to generate a swift, workable, economically regenerative transition of shipping within a 1.5C constrained future”.
…as Gavin Allwright, the International Windship Association’s Secretary General, stated.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)’s post-COVID-19 recovery agenda shows that investments strategically targeted at renewables can put the world on a climate safe path and generate wider socio-economic benefits.
As explained, every million dollars (USD) invested in renewables would create three times more jobs than in fossil fuels.
In light of the situation, IRENA urges governments to reset their recovery priorities through the following six aspects:
1. Re-evaluate stimulus measures and correct course to ensure a green recovery in line with global climate objectives.
2. Raise policy ambitions and clarify long-term plans for renewable generation and consumption, both centralised and decentralised.
3. Ensure energy markets can deliver continuity and stimulate investment and growth in renewables.
4. Prioritise renewable energy as a key component of industrial policies.
5. Align labour and education policies with a just energy transition.
6. Intensify international co-operation and action on COVID-19 while recognising renewable energy as a key part of the solution.
Through these six actions, governments can align their economic recovery from COVID-19 with their climate plans, deliver on their commitments under the Paris Agreement, and come back stronger than ever from the COVID-19 crisis.
…IRENA concluded.
