Experts advise on combating climate change with renewables

Experts from various organizations around the world have come together for IEA workshop to advise on an in-depth feature on renewable energy to be included as part of IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2016.

About 100 experts from governments, industry, academia, financial institutions and civil groups gathered at the International Energy Agency (IEA) to advise on how best to leverage renewable energy to fight against climate change, improve energy security and reduce local air pollution.

The IEA organised the high-level workshop on renewable energy on April 29, to generate input for an in-depth feature on renewable energy in the 2016 edition of the Agency’s flagship publication World Energy Outlook (WEO) that will be released on November 16, 2016.

The in-depth feature will inform policy makers about the challenges and opportunities for the deployment of renewables for electricity generation and other uses, IEA states.

Fatih Birol, IEA Executive Director, said: “Impressive cost declines place renewable energy at the forefront to step up efforts to decarbonise the energy sector, provide electricity access to millions currently deprived, fight local pollution and create 21st century interconnected energy systems.

“The World Energy Outlook has long seen renewables providing the lion’s share of new electricity generation. However, we must go beyond current and proposed policies – we need to advise policy makers on how to massively scale up renewables in order to achieve our common climate and development goals.”

Attendees presented and debated government policies to support the deployment of various renewable energy technologies, measures to integrate renewables, and the investment environment required for both renewable energy technologies and enabling infrastructure, helping the WEO team identify policies and measures that can accelerate the uptake of renewables, while ensuring the affordability and reliability of the electricity supply, IEA informed.