The International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) has urged individual countries to more than double their renewable energy build-up by 2030 within the so-called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that measure pledges made to reach the goals under the 2015 Paris climate deal.

Renewable energy pledges already made so far under the NDCs would expand the world’s renewable energy capacity by 3.2TW by 2030. Yet 7.7TW will need to be installed to put the world in line with the Paris targets, Irena said in NDCs in 2020: Advancing Renewables in the Power Sector and Beyond, which will be published next week at a side event of the COP25 conference in Madrid.

“Increasing renewable energy targets is absolutely necessary,” said Irena's director-general Francesco La Camera.

“Much more is possible. There is a decisive opportunity for policy makers to step up climate action by raising ambition on renewables, which are the only immediate solution to meet rising energy demand whilst decarbonising the economy and building resilience.”

The report will also point out that with over 2.3TW in installed renewable capacity today, almost half of the additional renewable energy capacity foreseen by current NDCs has already been installed.

The analysis will also highlight that delivering on increased renewable energy ambition can be achieved in a cost-effective way and with considerable socio-economic benefits across the world, Irena said.

“Renewables are good for growth, good for job creation and deliver significant welfare benefits. With renewables, we can also expand energy access and help eradicate energy poverty in line with the UN Sustainable Development Agenda 2030,” La Camera added.