The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has urged governments to step up efforts for a green recovery in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The call comes eight months after the IRENA Coalition for Action first pushed for action in response to the coronavirus.
IRENA said that, while some countries have put forward measures to support renewables and even announced more ambitious climate commitments, many others have yet to take decisive action to move towards a green post-Covid recovery.
The coalition urged governments to deliver on six actions.
They include to re-evaluate stimulus measures and correct course to ensure a green recovery in line with global climate objectives, raise policy ambitions and clarify long-term plans for renewable generation and consumption, both centralised and decentralised, and ensure energy markets can deliver continuity and stimulate investment and growth in renewables.
Governments should also prioritise renewable energy as a key component of industrial policies, align labour and education policies with a just energy transition, and intensify international co-operation and action on Covid-19 while recognising renewable energy as a key part of the solution.
IRENA said that, to date, G20 countries have committed at least $233bn in supporting the fossil fuel sector and fossil fuel-dependent industries, mostly without conditions to improve environmental sustainability.
But, by redirecting investments towards renewables, energy efficiency and other enabling technologies and infrastructure, governments can generate immediate GDP and employment gains and set the course for a climate-safe economic recovery in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
“The renewables sector has demonstrated it can rapidly roll out clean, uninterrupted, cost-effective energy services, including for remote and vulnerable communities,” IRENA said.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, renewables have shown greater resilience than other energy sectors and have thus far continued growing in terms of power generation capacity,” it added.
The agency said that any slowdown in investment, or a lack of ambition to increase investment in renewable energy will leave the world dependent on fossil fuels at a time when what is needed is a significant acceleration of the energy transition.