IRENA's chief executive expects sustainable biofuels as a key theme at COP30
Francesco La Camera said that the COP30 climate summit this year will focus on the social aspects of energy transition and the use of sustainable biofuels, according to the Director-General for the International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA.
COP30 is scheduled to take place in Belem (Brazil) from November 10-21. This will be the time for countries to update their national climate commitments, and evaluate progress towards renewable energy targets that were agreed upon at previous summits.
La Camera anticipates that a biofuel commitment could be included in the final statement, possibly calling for a quadrupling of production by 2035. Or setting a target share for sustainable aviation fuel as part of the energy mix.
La Camera, speaking at the Singapore International Energy Week, said: "I believe there will be a greater focus on the social aspects of the transition as well as the sustainable use biomass."
He said that IRENA had prepared a report on biofuels for the conference, and signed an agreement with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to promote the manufacture of biofuels.
La Camera stated that the conference will focus on how communities can get involved in renewable energy projects.
La Camera reported that IRENA expects a smaller gap in renewable energy installations between 2030 and 2050 due to the accelerating rate of new additions.
He said that the global renewable capacity will now fall 0.9 terawatts behind the COP28 goal of 11.2 terawatts for 2030. This is an improvement over the 1.49 terawatts projected shortfall last year.
At the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai, 2023, more than 100 countries agreed to triple renewable power capacity by 2030 in order to achieve global climate targets. IRENA stated in a recent report that to meet the 2030 target, an annual growth rate of 16.6% will be required from 2025-2030. (Reporting and editing by SonaliPaul; Sudarshanvaradhan)
(source: Reuters)
