Climate Action 2014-2015

MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION
THE NEED TO START
RIGHT AWAY
It is not yet clear what
successful business models
will look like in a renewable
energy system. A higher share
of variable power, distributed
more widely, demands new
management systems, as
well as smart metering and
advanced storage. It requires us
to build more interconnectors
in upgraded grids. And it needs
new forms of finance, which
fully take account of the risk of
stranded assets and the costs
of pollution.
All of these are coming, but not
as fast as we need. To speed
them up requires a sustained
and committed push, backed
by clear, consistent objectives,
and a lot of planning. Because
of the long lead times in
building new infrastructure, this
planning needs to begin today.
In order to stop climate
change, governments have
a duty to accelerate the
energy transition and start
addressing misconceptions
and misinformation about the
economics of clean power.
Renewable energy advocates
need to explain far more
clearly the costs and the
benefits of switching, and be
ready take on those lobbies
who would see the climate
destroyed in their effort to
maintain the status quo.
we have today. Raising the share of
renewables is not just a matter of
replacing coal power stations with
wind turbines. It requires a complete
rethink of the energy system. Where
traditionally we have generated
power in a large centralised utility,
renewable energy is distributed, and
the flow of electricity goes both ways.
Many consumers are also becoming
producers. New players are entering the
"The paradigm shift to
modern renewable energy will
happen, one way or another.
But as of now, it won’t happen
fast enough."
market, including retailers, technology
companies, community organisations
and private individuals. This has caused
incumbent utilities to increasingly
worry about their future. Some are
responding by trying to maintain the
status quo; others are fighting to keep
their subsidies. This puts a brake on the
global energy transition.
URGENT STEPS TO
PROSPERITY
The world has switched energy systems
before, and in doing so has enjoyed great
leaps in prosperity. The paradigm shift to
modern renewable energy will happen,
one way or another. But as of now,
it won’t happen fast enough to avoid
serious damage to our climate. We need
to speed things up.
We are extremely fortunate, in that
the falling cost of renewable energy
has given us a choice. We can avert
catastrophic climate change, and we can
start by doubling the global share of
renewable energy by 2030. In so doing,
we will also create jobs, lower healthcare
costs, and spread economic prosperity
more widely.
But to make that choice is not easy. It
requires urgent, bold steps, from leaders
willing to take the short-term hits from
those who would rather carry on with
business as usual. It will be a battle. But
it is a battle we simply cannot afford to
lose.
Adnan Z Amin was elected as Director-
General of the International Renewable
Energy Agency (IRENA) in April 2011.
A Kenyan national, he is a development
economist specialising in sustainable
development, with over 25 years of
experience in the fields of international
environment and sustainable development
policy. He served as Head of the UN
System Chief Executives Board for
Coordination (CEB) Secretariat. Mr Amin
also served as the Executive Director of
the Secretariat of the Secretary-General’s
High Level Panel on UN System-wide
Coherence. Previously, he had been
Director of the New York Office of the
United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) and Special Representative of
the UNEP Executive Director. He played
the lead role in supporting the ministeriallevel
intergovernmental process to review
International Environmental Governance
and UNEP’s participation in the World
Summit on Sustainable Development. He
has also served from 2000 until 2006
as a Trustee and member of the Board
of Directors of the World Conservation
Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK.
The International Renewable Energy
Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental
organisation that supports countries in
their transition to a sustainable energy
future and serves as the principal platform
for international cooperation, a centre
of excellence, and a repository of policy,
technology, resource and financial knowledge
on renewable energy. IRENA promotes the
widespread adoption and sustainable use
of all forms of renewable energy, including
bioenergy, geothermal, hydropower, ocean,
solar and wind energy in the pursuit of
sustainable development, energy access,
energy security and low-carbon economic
growth and prosperity. With over 130 states
and the European Union as members, and
active participation by many more signatories
and applicants for membership around the
world, IRENA helps countries achieve
their clean energy potential and promotes
renewable resources and technologies as the
key to a sustainable future.
climateactionprogramme.org 57