IRENA’s Global Renewables Outlook: A Blatant Notice to Defer CO2 Emissions by Advancing Renewable Energy options

Today, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has released its first Global Renewables Outlook: Energy transformation 2050, amidst a global lock down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is no coincidence that among other findings, the Global Renewables Outlook calls for recovery measures following the COVID-19 pandemic to consider flexible power grids, efficiency solutions, electric vehicle charging, energy storage, interconnected hydropower, green hydrogen and other technology investments consistent with long-term energy and climate sustainability.

Overall, the Global Renewables Outlook notes that raising regional and country-level ambitions will be crucial to meet interlinked energy and climate objectives. This is further to the UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report (2019) fossil CO2 emissions from energy use and industry, which dominates total Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, grew 2.0 per cent in 2018, reaching a record 37.5 Gigatonnes of CO2 per year. There is no sign of GHG emissions peaking in the next few years. Since every year of postponed peaking means that deeper and faster cuts, acting now rather than tomorrow is urgent.

In 2020, as countries review and update their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), it is paramount that they take candid steps to scale up renewable energy in order to secure less and less emissions as we approach 2030.

According to the IRENA’s Global Renewables Outlook Report, the Sub-Saharan Africa region whose average energy consumption per capita (51 GJ/year) is well below global average, holds over half the oil and gas reserves of the African continent.  On the contrary, bioenergy dominates the primary energy mix, accounting for 60% of primary energy demand while the share of energy supply from modern renewables is only about 10%. As a result, a growing numbers of people in Sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to clean cooking options, resulting in substantial degradation of forests and indoor air pollution.

According to UNECA, the lack of energy – traditional or renewable – for health care, agriculture, education, and economic diversification remains a critical barrier to overall growth and prosperity on the continent. In Africa, nearly 600 million people (about half the population) lack access to electricity, with 110 million of these living in urban areas—all within proximity of existing power grids. Failures and inefficiencies in energy transmission infrastructure, combined with high costs of last-mile connections to rural communities and other factors, mean that many Africans are moving off-grid – choosing expensive options like fossil fuel powered generators, and in some instances constructing home and mini-grid solar systems in their communities.

IRENA’s Global Renewables Outlook (2020) is therefore an important reminder that while all options are sought for deep and fast GHG emission cuts, advancing renewable energy options is one of the most viable options. In sub-Saharan Africa with the lowest access to electricity in the world (two-thirds of region’s population), this has potential positive spin-off effects in improving lives in key sectors like health, agriculture and employment provision in rural settings.

Globally, advancing renewable-based energy transformation is an opportunity to meet international climate goals as set out in the Paris Agreement (through updating and reviewing NDCs before 2020), and in fulfillment of the UN Global Goals (SDGs)