At the Dubai Climate Summit, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen launched a global pledge on renewable energy and energy efficiency with the COP28 Presidency and 118 countries. The Global Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Pledge will be a key tool for the international community to measure progress and meet the temperature targets of the Paris Agreement.
This initiative, first proposed by the Commission President at the Forum of Major Economies in April, sets global targets to be achieved by 2030, such as tripling installed renewable energy capacity to at least 11 terawatts (TW) and doubling global energy efficiency improvements from around 2% to 4% per year. Achieving these targets will facilitate the transition to a decarbonised energy system and the phasing out of fossil fuels without emissions reductions.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said: « With this global commitment, we have built a comprehensive and strong coalition of countries committed to the clean energy transition – big and small, North and South, major greenhouse gas emitters, developing and small island states. Our unity is based on a shared conviction that we must phase out fossil fuels to meet the 1.5°C objective of the Paris Agreement. We will achieve this by accelerating the transition to clean energy, tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency. Over the next two years, we will invest €2.3 billion from the EU budget to support the energy transition in the EU’s neighbouring countries and around the world. This commitment and this financial support will deliver green jobs and sustainable growth by investing in the technologies of the future. It will also, of course, reduce emissions, which is at the heart of what we are doing at COP28. »
The global commitment was developed in close cooperation between the European Commission and the COP28 Presidency, with the support of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Adopted in the early days of COP28, the pledge aims to deliver the most ambitious negotiating outcome possible at the end of this year’s conference. The EU is calling for concrete measures to phase out fossil fuels, in particular coal, from energy systems worldwide and will push for language reflecting this in the final COP decision.
To support this global commitment, President von der Leyen announced that the EU will invest €2.3 billion from the EU budget over the next two years to support the energy transition in the EU’s neighbourhood and worldwide. The EU will also rely on the Global Gateway flagship programme to continue to support the clean energy transition. The European Commission is calling on other donor countries to follow suit and accelerate the implementation of the global pledge.
The next steps will be to review annually the world’s progress towards the 11 TW global target and the 4% annual energy efficiency improvement, and to publish the results each year before the COP.
The European Commission will work closely with European financial institutions such as the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to deliver on its financial commitments to the Global Commitment.
