World must spend $A18 trillion in renewables and grids by 2030 - RenewEconomy
World must spend $A18 trillion in renewables and grids by 2030 - RenewEconomy
World must spend $A18 trillion in renewables and grids by 2030 to meet climate targets A new study says the world needs to spend at least US$18 trillion over six years on renewables and grid infrastructure to meet the climate targets set out at last year’s COP28. That figure includes $US8 trillion on trebling renewables by 2030, and another US$4 trillion on grid infrastructure to support it. That amounts to $US2 trillion a year, double what was spent in 2023. Currently, around $US6 billion is considered “locked in” to 2030, leaving a shortfall that can be easily met by diverting money away from planned fossil fuel investments. To have a chance of meeting the agreed Paris target of capping average warming to 1.5°C – a level already breached, at least on a short time scale – the world needs to install some 8 TW of new renewables. Half of this new renewable energy capacity will come from Asia, though a spree of new coal-fired power station construction in China and India is concerning. OECD countries, which for the purpose of this study include Australia, will provide just over one third of this new capacity, but will need a ramp up of current policies – particularly in countries such as Japan. And while scaling up renewables is key, emissions will only fall if they displace fossil fuels in the power system. There is a gap of 2.2 TW between current forecasts and the 1.5°C compatible benchmark, the report notes.But as the pace of renewable deployment continues to accelerate, this gap could feasibly be closed by 2030. But this would require renewables to grow 70% faster over 2022–2030 than they did over the last eight years.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”