Overview

• The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) aims to triple the deployment of renewable energy capacity by 2030 by engaging the private sector as a central component in climate change solutions.
• Wide-scale efforts towards renewable energy investment and production need collaboration between governments, international organizations, and the private sector, particularly in riskier emerging markets.
• Current global policies and promises still keep global warning on a trajectory that far surpasses the Paris Agreement's aim to limit warming to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius compared with preindustrial temperatures. A U.N.-led report revealed that in 2030, governments worldwide are projected to produce twice as much fossil fuel as would be permitted under a 1.5 C warming pathway.
• The Paris Agreement has requested an urgent need to 'phase out all unabated fossil fuels.' Fossil fuels account for 80% of the world's total energy consumption, while subsidies provided to oil, coal, and gas industries totaled about US$1.3 trillion in explicit subsidies for fossil fuels in 2022.
• Initiatives to expedite the transition away from fossil fuels are emerging, including Canada's pledge to end government support for oil and natural gas, the European Union expanding its carbon market to more sectors, and the United States' Inflation Reduction Act committing US$10 billion to clean energy projects.