Following the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) study on the State of the Global Climate in 2021, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched a 5-point plan to accelerate the transition to renewable energy averting the worst effects of the climate crisis. In it, he called for a tripling of investment in renewable energy.

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5 critical actions that the world needs prioritize

According to The WMO State of the Global Climate in 2021, four key climate change indicators – greenhouse gas concentrations, sea-level rise, ocean heat, and ocean acidification – set new records, according to The WMO State of the Global Climate in 2021 report. Severe weather has had a major effect on people’s lives, threatening food security and water resources and causing economic losses in the hundreds of billions of dollars every year. According to the report, temperatures last year were in the top seven hottest years on record, the average temperature last year was 1 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average. Petteri Taalas, the WMO”s secretary-general, warned that “Sea level rise, ocean heat, and acidification will continue for hundreds of years unless methods to remove carbon from the atmosphere are invented.”

Climate change is an urgent global issue (Internet Photo)

Given that there is not much time left to avert the worst effects of the climate crisis, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for accelerating the transition to renewable energy and outlined five critical actions that the world needs prioritize, including:

• For renewable energy technology to be available to all, remove roadblocks to knowledge sharing and technological transfer, including intellectual property rights barriers.
• Improve global access to components and raw materials, it will take significant international coordination to expand and diversify manufacturing capacity globally.
• Level the playing field for renewable energy technologies
• Shift energy subsidies from fossil fuels to renewable energy. “Shifting subsidies from fossil fuels to renewable energy not only cuts emissions, it also contributes to the sustainable economic growth, job creation, better public health and more equality, particularly for the poor and most vulnerable communities around the world.”
• Triple investments in renewables. At least $4 trillion a year needs to be invested in renewable energy until 2030 – including investments in technology and infrastructure – to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

According to the IEA’s latest Renewable Energy Market Update, 2021 will set a record for additional renewable power capacity with 295 GW, overcoming supply chain challenges, construction delays and high raw material prices. In 2022, the world will continue to set new records for renewable energy capacity, with an additional degree of 320 GW expected. Solar power will account for 60% of global renewable power growth in 2022, followed by wind and hydropower.

Renewable energy is forecast to expand by 320 GW by 2022, with solar power contributing to 60% of the increase

Additional capacity in the offshore wind sector is set to drop by 40% after a particularly impressive gain in 2021 as developers rush to launch projects in China to meet subsidy deadlines. However, the IEA estimates that global additional offshore wind capacity will be 80 percent higher this year than in 2020. And, by the end of 2022, China will surpass Europe to become the market with the largest total offshore wind capacity in the world.

According to the IEA, the addition of renewable energy capacity this year and in 2023 can significantly reduce the European Union’s dependence on Russian gas in the power sector. This demonstrates the importance of renewable energy for energy security and effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change prevention, and protecting the global ecosystem.

Vu Phong Energy Group

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