{"id":8808,"date":"2019-06-18T12:08:36","date_gmt":"2019-06-18T10:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/energy\/political-inaction-on-sustainable-energy-policies-to-blame-for-lack-of-progress-on-un-climate-development-goals.html"},"modified":"2019-06-18T12:08:36","modified_gmt":"2019-06-18T10:08:36","slug":"political-inaction-on-sustainable-energy-policies-to-blame-for-lack-of-progress-on-un-climate-development-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/energy\/political-inaction-on-sustainable-energy-policies-to-blame-for-lack-of-progress-on-un-climate-development-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Political inaction on sustainable energy policies to blame for lack of progress on UN climate & development goals"},"content":{"rendered":"
Renewables now supply more than a quarter (26%) of global electricity production but current trends in the sector show that bolder policy decisions are needed across all end-use sectors to make our energy systems sustainable.<\/p>\n
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Renewable energy is increasingly powering the world, but erratic <\/span>p<\/span>olicy making is holding the sector back from its potential contribution to cutting carbon pollution <\/span>and meeting climate and development targets, according to REN21’s <\/span>Renewables 2019 Global <\/span>Status Report<\/span>(GSR)<\/span>, released today. <\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span>The report confirms that for<\/span>the fourth consecutive year, <\/span>more renewable power capacity was <\/span>installed than fossil fuel and nuclear power combined <\/span>–<\/span>100 gigawatts (GW) of solar PV alone was <\/span>added in 2018, enough to meet more than 25% of electricity demand in France.<\/span><\/p>\n
But a lack of amb<\/span>itious and sustained policies to drive decarbonisation across the heating, cooling <\/span>and transport sectors means countries are not maximising the benefits of the transition <\/span>–<\/span>including <\/span>cleaner air and energy security <\/span>–<\/span>for their people. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
A key breakthroug<\/span>h could occur if countries cut their fossil fuel subsidies which are propping up <\/span>dirty energy” says Rana Adib, Executive Secretary, REN21. <\/span>Ambitious policy and regulatory <\/span>frameworks are critical to creating favourable and competitive conditions, allowing r<\/span>enewable <\/span>energy to grow and displace more expensive and carbon<\/span>–<\/span>emitting fuels. Forty countries have <\/span>undertaken some level of fossil fuel subsidy reform since 2015, but these subsidies continued to <\/span>exist in 112 countries in 2017, with at least 73 countries <\/span>providing subsidies of over USD 100 million <\/span>each.<\/span>Estimated total global subsidies for fossil fuel consumption were USD 300 billion in 2017, an <\/span>11% increase from 2016.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
The Report finds: <\/strong><\/p>\n
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Solar PV and wind are now mainstream options in the power sector<\/span>. <\/span>Over 90 countries had <\/span>more than 1 GW of renewable power capacity installed, and 30 countries had more than 10 <\/span>GW. At least nine countries generated more than 20% of their electricity with solar PV and <\/span>wind. (These are: Denmark, Uruguay, Ireland, Germany, P<\/span>ortugal, Spain, Greece, UK, <\/span>Honduras.)<\/span><\/li>\n
Global renewable energy uptake no longer depends on just a few countries<\/span>. In 2018 the <\/span>global deployment<\/span>of renewables kept up a steady pace overall with the European Union’s <\/span>roll<\/span>–<\/span>out slightly up and China’s annual in<\/span>stallations and investment declining compared to <\/span>year prior. This shows renewable energy is a strong, global powerhouse. <\/span><\/li>\n
Cities are increasingly becoming strong drivers in renewable energy deployment, <\/span>adopting <\/span>some of the most ambitious targets for <\/span>renewables globally. In numerous cases, these<\/span>commitments and actions have exceeded national and state\/provincial initiatives. <\/span>More <\/span>than 100 cities (ranging from Nairobi\/Kenya and Dar es Salaam\/Tanzania to Auckland\/NZ<\/span>, <\/span>Stockholm\/Sweden<\/span>and Seattle\/USA) us<\/span>e at least 70% renewable electricity, and at least 50 <\/span>cities put in place renewable energy targets covering power, heating and cooling, and <\/span>transport.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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There is a huge opportunity for countries to drive action by expanding the transition <\/span>to the <\/span>heating, cooling and transport sectors. <\/span>Renewables supply more than 26% of global electricity, <\/span>however they provide only 10% of the energy used for heating and cooling and just over 3% for <\/span>transport. <\/span>This imbalance between energy sectors is in larg<\/span>e part due to insufficient or unstable <\/span>policy support.<\/span>The number of countries with a policy for renewables in heat actually declined.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Despite insufficient support, initiatives in transport, heating and cooling sectors are being <\/span>implemented. Sustainable b<\/span>iofuels, EVs and fuel economy policies are reducing overall fossil fuel <\/span>dependency in the transport sector. Ambitious policies, such as Brazil’s 27% blending mandate for <\/span>ethanol and California’s (USA) Low Carbon Fuel Standard Program, demonstrate renewable<\/span>s’ <\/span>contribution to the transport sector. Heating and cooling policies include building energy codes, <\/span>renewable heat incentives and mandates, and indirect approaches like carbon pricing<\/span>. Carbon <\/span>pricing remains acutely under<\/span>–<\/span>utilised.<\/span>By the end of 2018, onl<\/span>y 44 national governments, 21 <\/span>states\/provinces and 7 cities had implemented carbon pricing policies, covering just 13% of global <\/span>CO<\/span>2<\/span>emissions.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
“With the countries needing to come back with more ambitious climate targets in 2020, <\/span>this report <\/span>shows there ar<\/span>e an array of opportunities to scale up action and improve people’s lives<\/span>by <\/span>extending the benefits of the energy transition throughout the economy,” says REN21 Chair, <\/span>Arthouros Zervos.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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