New report by the UN takes a clear stand in favour of a renewable-energy revolution
Thursday, 26 May 2011 09:00 | 
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The UN International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which involves more than 120 scientists, economists and technology specialists, released a report analysing the broader economic, environmental and social issues at stake if we are to shift to a global renewable energy future...
The summary of the report concludes that renewable energy is an increasingly practical and highly promising option. Costs are falling -and are likely to fall even further as innovation accelerates and global energy demand continues to rise. It was signed by representatives of the more than 190 countries meeting in the United Arab Emirates on 10 May.
According to the IPCC´s most optimistic scenario, close to 80% of the world´s energy supply could be met by renewables by 2050, if backed by the right enabling public policies. This would enable to cut global greenhouse gas emissions by around one-third. Besides, “as well as having a large potential to mitigate climate change, renewable energy can provide wider benefits. Renewable energy can contribute to social and economic development, energy access, energy security and reduce negative impacts on the environment and health”, the report states. Last but not least, clean and renewable energy will be an indispensable component of the fight against poverty worldwide.
Lead authors Achim Steiner (UN Vice-President and UNEP Executive Director), Helen Clark (Administrator of the UNDP) and Kandeh K. Yumkella (Director General of the UN Industrial Development Organization) point out that the ball is now firmly in politicians´ court, and that while renewables are already growing fast, the really big numbers are unlikely to be reached without the kinds of supportive public policies that have catalyzed the expansion of renewables in countries such as China and Germany.
The report´s author call not only for smart and forward-looking national policies, but also for ambitious international policies. According to them, the lending decisions of the World Bank and regional development banks must evolveas do the strategies of the UN and bilateral donors. They further stress that moving forward to a new global climate agreement at the Durban international climate summit in December would bring the needed certainty to the carbon markets, strengthen the various mechanisms that are already encouraging renewables in developing countries and foster private-sector investments -notably in better national and regional energy grids. The IPPC estimates that the costs of triggering a global renewable energy revolution could range from $3 trillion to more than $12 trillion between now and 2030. The authors emphasise that this huge sum must be put in perspective with the global fossil-fuel subsidies, which are currently running at more than $600 billion a year.
Achim Steiner, Helen Clark and Kandeh K. Yumkella said that "the IPCC report has provided a solid, scientific foundation for a low-carbon, resource-efficient future". They added that "governments now have a clearer perspective on how to empower the lives and livelihoods of the world’s seven billion people (9-10 billion by 2050), while keeping humanity’s footprint, including climate change, within the planet’s boundaries of environmental sustainability."
“The report makes clear that the energy mix chosen will vary from country to country, but renewable energy has a potentially huge role to play in that energy mix and that global technical potential for renewable energy, as a whole, is unlimited”, said Dr. Al Jaber, UAE Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change and Chief Executive of the Masdar initiative, UAE´s green city.
The summary of the report concludes that renewable energy is an increasingly practical and highly promising option. Costs are falling -and are likely to fall even further as innovation accelerates and global energy demand continues to rise. It was signed by representatives of the more than 190 countries meeting in the United Arab Emirates on 10 May.
According to the IPCC´s most optimistic scenario, close to 80% of the world´s energy supply could be met by renewables by 2050, if backed by the right enabling public policies. This would enable to cut global greenhouse gas emissions by around one-third. Besides, “as well as having a large potential to mitigate climate change, renewable energy can provide wider benefits. Renewable energy can contribute to social and economic development, energy access, energy security and reduce negative impacts on the environment and health”, the report states. Last but not least, clean and renewable energy will be an indispensable component of the fight against poverty worldwide.
Lead authors Achim Steiner (UN Vice-President and UNEP Executive Director), Helen Clark (Administrator of the UNDP) and Kandeh K. Yumkella (Director General of the UN Industrial Development Organization) point out that the ball is now firmly in politicians´ court, and that while renewables are already growing fast, the really big numbers are unlikely to be reached without the kinds of supportive public policies that have catalyzed the expansion of renewables in countries such as China and Germany.
The report´s author call not only for smart and forward-looking national policies, but also for ambitious international policies. According to them, the lending decisions of the World Bank and regional development banks must evolveas do the strategies of the UN and bilateral donors. They further stress that moving forward to a new global climate agreement at the Durban international climate summit in December would bring the needed certainty to the carbon markets, strengthen the various mechanisms that are already encouraging renewables in developing countries and foster private-sector investments -notably in better national and regional energy grids. The IPPC estimates that the costs of triggering a global renewable energy revolution could range from $3 trillion to more than $12 trillion between now and 2030. The authors emphasise that this huge sum must be put in perspective with the global fossil-fuel subsidies, which are currently running at more than $600 billion a year.
Achim Steiner, Helen Clark and Kandeh K. Yumkella said that "the IPCC report has provided a solid, scientific foundation for a low-carbon, resource-efficient future". They added that "governments now have a clearer perspective on how to empower the lives and livelihoods of the world’s seven billion people (9-10 billion by 2050), while keeping humanity’s footprint, including climate change, within the planet’s boundaries of environmental sustainability."
“The report makes clear that the energy mix chosen will vary from country to country, but renewable energy has a potentially huge role to play in that energy mix and that global technical potential for renewable energy, as a whole, is unlimited”, said Dr. Al Jaber, UAE Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change and Chief Executive of the Masdar initiative, UAE´s green city.
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