IEA chief pitches for ambitious G20 agenda on clean energy investment

New Delhi: G20 should come up with an ambitious agenda on clean energy investment, according to Fatih Birol, the Executive Director of International Energy Agency (IEA).

Citing lack of investment in the global south, he said: “Clean energy investment has soared in recent years and is set to reach more than $1.7 trillion this year. But it is not evenly spread. Advanced economies and China account for 95% of the growth in clean energy investment since 2015. And the Netherlands – without any disrespect to the Netherlands, a small country and with quite grey weather – has more installed solar PV capacity in 2022 than the entire continent of Africa. Let that sink in for a moment.“

“To remedy this, we need an ambitious agenda from the G20 on clean energy investment, including making sure that our development finance institutions have the mandate, flexibility and the funds to play their part,” he said while addressing the G20 Development Working Group Ministerial.

He emphasized on the advanced economies and the broader international community mobilizing more of the the necessary finance.

“Of course, each country will choose its own pathway. But the emergence of the new clean energy economy opens huge opportunities for developing countries to fuel their development in a clean, sustainable, affordable and secure way.”

He noted that in the current scenario, economic growth and development must be pursued in an environmentally sustainable way, addressing biodiversity loss, climate change and air pollution together.

Birol was of the view that there is a need for a new participatory and inclusive approaches to revolutionize the link between development, the environment and energy. 

“When we look at the energy situation today globally, we still see a stark divide between the haves and the have-nots, between advanced economies and developing economies, between rich and poor. Half of global CO2 emissions today come from just 10% of the global population. Many of the countries that have contributed the least to causing climate change are, at the same time, the most exposed to its devastating effects. That is profoundly unjust.”

He noted that the situation has been made worse by the pandemic and global energy crisis. 

Observing that the an average person in sub-Saharan Africa consumes 20 times less electricity than the average person in an advanced economy and over 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa still lack any access to electricity, he said that ensuring people-centred energy transitions, and facilitating the investment and financing in emerging and developing economies must be made a greater priority.