In recent years, one of the bright spots amid gloomy predictions about the climate has come from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) – an Abu Dhabi-based intergovernmental body – which has consistently pointed out the plummeting costs and soaring efficiency of clean energy sources, such as solar and wind power.

On Tuesday, IRENA launched its latest progress report, which reiterated the impressive rise of renewables – 2024 saw a record-breaking additional 582 Gigawatts of renewable energy capacity – but warned that this is still far from the annual increase necessary to wean us off the fossil fuels which are accelerating global warming.

“The clean energy revolution is unstoppable,” said Mr. Guterres in reaction to the study.

“Renewables are deployed faster and cheaper than fossil fuels – driving growth, jobs, and affordable power. But the window to keep the 1.5°C limit within reach is rapidly closing. We must step up, scale up and speed up the just energy transition – for everyone, everywhere.”

Still off track

At the COP28 UN climate conference, governments committed to produce 11.2 Terawatts of energy from renewable sources by 2030.

So, whilst the 2024 figure is impressive, it’s still way off the 1,122 GW of capacity that needs to be added every year, if that goal is to be reached in time.

The report calls on the world’s richest countries to take the lead in turning away from polluting energy sources such as coal and oil and raise their share of renewables to around 20 per cent of global capacity by the end of the decade.

A major increase in investment for the transition is urgently needed, the reports states, to fund upgrades to electricity grids, supply chains, and clean-tech manufacturing for solar, wind, batteries and hydrogen.