The Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA) has welcomed Brazil, California, the European Commission and Panama into its membership at a ceremony at COP28 in Dubai.
The expansion adds 65GW of declared target capacity to the alliance and positions it to play a crucial role in the expansion of offshore wind.
GOWA is focused on providing the support countries need to turn ambitions into truly transformative action, which ensures offshore wind delivers on its potential as a key tool in the fight against climate change.
COP28 has seen at least 119 countries, so far, pledge to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030.
This will require the rapid expansion of offshore wind as a key tool in the new energy system that will be built this decade.
GOWA’s ambition is to drive the installation of at least 380GW in 2030 and 2000GW in 2050 in order to support the global energy transition and reach climate neutrality.
To enable this, GOWA will work with its members to build clear financing frameworks, unlock the supply chain and share expertise around marine spatial planning.
Denmark’s Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy, Dan Jorgensen, welcomed the new GOWA members.
He said: “The fact that the State of California, the EU Commission, Brazil and Panama have joined GOWA shows that there is an increasing awareness of offshore wind’s enormous potential.
“Offshore wind is a key technology on the path to achieve the target of tripling renewable energy by 2030, which we are working to have adopted at COP28.
“The announcement of new GOWA members contributes to mobilising momentum for this effort.”
Chief executive of the Global Wind Energy Council Ben Backwell added: “The expansion of offshore wind is absolutely fundamental to the world reaching the tripling target.
“The Global Wind Energy Council is delighted with the ambition set out by the COP28 pledge and GOWA provides the perfect toolset for delivering transformative action at the pace the world needs to stay on course for net zero.”
Chair of the California Energy Commission David Hochschild said: “California is proud to partner with to other national and subnational governments around the world to bring clean offshore wind power into the mainstream and achieve 2000 GW worth of capacity by 2050.”