Doubling renewables could save global economy $4.2trn

Doubling the share of renewable power in the global energy mix to 36 per cent by 2030 would save $4.2 trillion a year, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Renewable energy including wind and solar power accounted for approximately 18 per cent of global energy use in 2014 and it is estimated that the share of renewables will reach 21 per cent by 2030 if current policies are followed.

IRENA released a new study on Wednesday and said that doubling the current share of renewables would help achieve the climate targets adopted by 195 UN member states at the Paris climate summit in December.

According to the report, the annual cost of doubling the share of renewables by 2030 would be $290 billion, but the annual net savings from cutting greenhouse gas emissions would be between $1.2 trillion and $4.2 trillion.

In a statement, IRENA’s Director General Adnan Amin said: “Achieving a doubling is not only feasible, it is cheaper than not doing so… It would create more jobs, save millions of lives from reduced air pollution and set us on a pathway to limit global temperature rise to two degrees as agreed in Paris.”