World urged to build on Cop28 ‘good news’ at Germany talks

A global clean power boom must gather even further pace if the world is to build on the “tornado of good news” that emerged from Cop28, climate talks in Germany have heard.

While last year was a record one for clean energy, there is still a long way to go to meet a 2030 target of trebling the world’s renewable output, new figures show.

The UAE’s presidency of December’s climate talks urged countries to “maintain the momentum” of the Dubai summit, which produced a series of pledges to combat global warming.

Talks in Berlin are focusing on the UAE’s calls for a clean energy revolution, while separate meetings in Bonn are looking at how to make the world more resilient to extreme temperatures.

“We invite all parties to continue to show the strong spirit of collaboration and international co-operation that we saw at Cop28,” said Amer Al Kindi, a negotiator from the UAE’s Cop28 presidency, at the talks in Bonn.

The Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue is looking at ways to meet the Cop28 goal of trebling renewable capacity. Figures show a record 473 gigawatts of renewables were installed last year, driven by a boom in solar power. In all, 87 per cent of new energy systems were renewable.

However, the 2030 target implies a rate of 1,000 gigawatts a year, according to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency in Abu Dhabi for the Berlin talks.

In addition, the figures hide the fact that growth is concentrated in China, the US and Europe. More than 500 million people in Africa have no electricity at all, it said.