Six priority areas for the international community to accelerate the new era of energy power.

 

As the previous sections demonstrated, the world stands on the cusp of a new energy era that can deliver immense economic, climate, and sustainable development benefits. We are presented with an unprecedented moment of opportunity to deliver the policies, frameworks,and infrastructure needed to capitalize on thefalling costs and abundant potential of renewable energy to unlock the transition globally — particularly in developing countries whererenewable resources are vast and access needs are greatest. But this window of opportunity will be missed if we fail to act with urgency or to work together. The barriers and challenges outlined in Section 4 must be addressed to accelerate a fast, fair, and funded transition. This section identifies six priority areas for the international community to accelerate the new era of energy powersix priority areas for the international community to accelerate the new era of energy power by renewables, efficiency, and electrification.

#1 PROVIDE POLICY COHERENCE, CLARITY, AND CERTAINTY.

 Governments should align policies, incentives, and resources to seize the benefits of the emerging renewable energy economy: i) Develop just energy-transition roadmaps as part of national strategies for strengthening green industrialization and economic competitiveness, and to help coordinate the rapid rollout of renewable energy technologies and transition away from fossil fuels towards net-zero energy systems by 2050 at the latest, with developed countries taking the lead. ii) Seize the opportunity presented by the next generation of NDCs by COP30 to lay out concrete and quantifiable energy-transition priorities and targets out to 2035 and provide the policy clarity necessary to attract investments. New NDCs should follow the first Global Stocktake guidance in terms of aligning with 1.5°C and covering all sectors and all GHGs. They should also demonstrate how countries will contribute to global 1.5°C-aligned energytransition goals and align with long-term net-zero strategies. iii) Strengthen domestic enabling environments to attract renewable energy investments and develop domestic markets — including embedding climate and energy-transition goals into national legislation, clear and stable regulatory and legal frameworks for investment and offtake pricing commitments, governance reforms, improved project pipeline readiness and visibility, and, where relevant, regional energy integration. iv) Leverage public-private partnerships to drive the transition and green industrial development. v) Reform or end domestic fossil fuel subsidies and implement effective domestic carbon pricing mechanisms while protecting low-income and vulnerable communities through progressive policy design. vi) End public finance for international fossil fuel projects to redirect resources towards the just energy transition. 

#2 INVEST IN ENABLING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE 21st CENTURY ENERGY SYSTEM.

 The surge in renewable capacity must be supported by parallel developments in modern and flexible grid and storage infrastructure to rapidly scale up the share of renewables in total power generation. Meeting the global goals of tripling renewable capacity and doubling energy efficiency should lead to the share of renewables in global power generation reaching around 60–70% by 2030 and 80% by 2035. EV charging stations, and grid expansion, modernization, and flexibility — including through leveraging digital technologies: • Achieve a global energy storage capacity of 1,500 GW by 2030, including 1,200 GW in battery storage. • Double investments in electricity transmission and distribution grids from current levels, reaching USD 680 billion/year by 2030. • Invest in regional grid interconnections that can help drive faster renewable energy integration and improve the security of supply. • Reforms in grid governance will also be crucial, especially in countries with full or majority stateowned utilities. ii) Accelerate energy efficiency improvements and electrification of all end-use sectors: buildings, transport, and industry. In particular: • Achieve a share of electricity in global final energy consumption of at least 30% by 2030. • Near-zero emissions and climate-resilient buildings should be the new normal by 2030. • Improve energy efficiency of cooling and heating technologies by 50% by 2030. 

#3 MEET NEW ELECTRICITY DEMAND WITH RENEWABLES, ESPECIALLY FOR RAPIDLY GROWING SECTORS LIKE BIG TECH — IN PARTICULAR FOR AI AND DATA CENTRES.

 Growing energy demand can and should be met by renewables and other clean energy sources. Renewables are now the cheapest and quickest option for new power generation, making up 92.5% of global power capacity additions and 74% of global power generation growth in 2024. i) Governments should strive to meet all new electricity demand with renewables, leveraging the lower average lifetime costs of renewables compared to fossil fuels for new power generation and avoiding future stranded assets. ii) Major tech firms should commit to powering their operations with 100% renewables by 2030.

 

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#4 PLACE PEOPLE AND EQUITY AT THE HEART OF THE JUST ENERGY TRANSITION TO DRIVE INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

 i) Deliver universal clean electricity and clean cooking access for all by 2030 by leveraging the combination of grid, mini-grid, and off-grid renewables-based solutions. ii) Ensure energy affordability in the transition. As discussed in Section 3, transitioning to primarily renewables-based energy systems will deliver cost savings for consumers, businesses, and governments. Nevertheless, governments should include progressive policies to ensure they are not exacerbating economic hardship for lower-income and vulnerable communities. iii) Ensure a just transition for workers and communities affected by the transition through strengthening social protection measures, providing training and reskilling opportunities, and engaging all relevant stakeholders through inclusive dialogues and consultations. iv) Expand opportunities for technical and vocational education and training in the clean energy sector for women, youth, minorities, and other marginalized and vulnerable groups. v) Recognize that countries’ existing dependence on, and capacity to transition away from, the fossil fuel economy vary widely, and countries will therefore have different transition pathways. Encourage those with higher capacity to transition faster, while supporting low-capacity and highdependence developing countries. Country platforms offer a promising mechanism for support, but key challenges need to be overcome for effective implementation, including: aligning political commitments with national strategies and regulatory frameworks; increasing concessional finance targeted at mobilizing greater private capital; developing incountry technical, planning, and modelling capacity; and addressing vested interests and the political economy of transitioning away from fossil fuels. vi) Apply the seven Guiding Principles and implement the five Actionable Recommendations from the UN High-Level Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals throughout the critical minerals value chain.

#5 SUPERCHARGE THE TRANSITION BY INCREASING COOPERATION ON TRADE AND INVESTMENT.

be designed to boost the energy transition. Governments should pursue robust cooperation to: i) Increase the diversification, resilience, and security of global clean energy supply chains, including broadening opportunities for developing countries to participate by supporting them to design and implement integrated green energy-industry strategies to enter the renewable energy value chain and attract investment. ii) Strengthen trade and investment in clean energy technologies by lowering tariffs and other barriers on clean energy goods, and through new models of bilateral and plurilateral clean energy cooperation — including through South-South cooperation and collaboration. iii) Fast-track the replacement and modernization of investment treaties. IIAs should be reformed and redesigned to align with climate and sustainable development imperatives, mitigate risks and liabilities of ISDS provisions, reduce policy constraints to pursue clean energy-based industrialization, and foster cooperation for the promotion and facilitation of sustainable investment. 

#6 DISMANTLE STRUCTURAL BARRIERS TO MOBILIZE ENERGY-TRANSITION FINANCE FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.

 Mobilizing funds for the clean energy transition in developing countries hinges upon tackling persistent and systemic barriers in the international financial architecture, demystifying perceived risks, and addressing real risks to bring down the cost of capital — for both debt and equity financing. In addition to the calls outlined in the UN Pact for the Future to reform the international financial and debt architecture so that developing countries can achieve their climate and sustainable development goals, solutions targeted at mobilizing energy-transition finance and investments include, but are not limited to: • Expand the capacities of multilateral, regional, and national development banks to support just energy transitions — including through increasing concessional financing, strengthening credit enhancement tools, increasing local currency lending and risk hedging, and expanding capacity building and technical assistance. • Leverage innovative de-risking and risksharing mechanisms to mobilize private finance at scale, especially for renewable energy and grid infrastructure projects where upfront costs are high and returns may be slow to materialize. DFIs should expand their support for such projects, take on more risk, and avoid crowding out private investments. • Work with credit rating agencies to update their methodologies to reduce the gap between real and perceived risks stemming from subjective biases and to account for the economic growth prospects in developing countries through accelerating the clean energy transition. • Work with capital providers (domestic and international) to better distinguish between real and perceived risk when investing in developing countries with high renewable resource potential including through increasing understanding of clean energy technologies so that risk is adequately priced. • Create long-term currency financing mechanisms through domestic financial market development. Leverage models that have scaled in EMDEs (such as mobile banking) by working with domestic financial institutions to develop green lending capabilities. • Build robust project preparation and pipeline development facilities. Work with technical assistance providers to establish dedicated facilities that bring clean energy projects to bankable standards before presenting them to invest