Gap between ambition and action

A major global association of actors from the renewable energy community has sent a clear warning that the clean energy transition is not happening, and that the world is unlikely to meet critical climate goals this decade.

REN21 in its Renewables 2022 Global Status Report (GSR 2022) said a record energy crisis the world currently experiences, further exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, will slow the global shift to alternative energy.

In the foreword, Rana Adib, REN21 Executive Director, said: "Despite evidence that renewables are the most affordable energy source to both improve resilience and support decarbonisation, governments across the world continue to resort to fossil fuel subsidies to keep energy bills under control. This growing gap between countries’ ambition and action on the ground is alarming and sends a clear warning that the global energy transition is not happening."

The report called for a structural shift in the energy system, and said an energy-efficient and renewable-based economy can be a game changer for a more secure and sustainable energy future.

In 2021, renewables generated 28.3 per cent of global electricity, up from 20.4 per cent in 2011. But despite the progress of renewables in the power sector, the surge in global energy demand was met mostly with fossil fuels.

Between 2018 and 2020, governments spent a whopping $18 trillion – 7 per cent of global GDP – on fossil fuel subsidies, in some cases while reducing support to renewables.

Adib says, crisis response and climate goals must not be in conflict. "We must boost the share of renewables and make them a priority of economic and industrial policy. We can’t fight a fire with more fire."