German climate envoy calls for global renewable target

Germany's state secretary and special representative for international climate policy Jennifer Morgan has called for a global renewable energy target as governments prepare to meet at the UN Cop 28 climate summit later this year.

"We need a breakthrough on mitigation" to reach the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target of 43pc by 2030 relative to 2019 levels, Morgan said at a briefing on the German roadmap to Cop 28 today. The target was agreed on at the climate summit in Glasgow in 2021, and reiterated in the Cop 27 text last year.

"That means a phase-out of fossil fuels" and "that means a phase-in of renewables", which can be achieved by making a commitment to a global renewables goal, Morgan added.

The energy and mitigation sections of last year's climate agreement emphasised the urgent need for a rapid reduction in GHG emissions across "all applicable sectors", including through an increase in low-emission and renewable energy, but did not provide specific targets to reach this goal.

Negotiations this year should result in a clear terawatts (TW) goal by 2030, Morgan said. "We know how much to scale up, so let's give ourselves a goal," she said.

Global renewable power generation capacity rose by a record 295GW in 2022 to 3.3TW, according to the latest statistics from the renewable energy agency Irena released on Tuesday. But annual additions "must grow three times the current level by 2030" in order to stay on the pathway to limit global warming to 1.5°C, Irena's director-general Francesco La Camera said.

Morgan also said that more progress needs to be achieved to close the climate finance gap and that Germany was engaging with other countries to meet the $100bn/yr target. Germany last year committed to raise its own share of the climate fund to €6bn/yr ($6.53bn/yr) by 2025, which is yet to be implemented in the new state budget for 2024/2025.

Funding arrangements for the loss and damage fund are however unlikely to be met this year as it will be difficult to assess which governments should pay, Morgan added. But the governance of the fund could already be set up by this Cop, she concluded.

By Florence Schmit