The new year is always a time for reflection on what we did in the previous year and to look forward to how we can continue to grow and improve in the year to come. At the Global Solar Council, a main highlight for us in 2023 was undoubtedly COP28 in Dubai, where we had the opportunity to represent the global solar industry like never before on the world climate stage.
The Global Solar Council was well represented at COP28 Dubai with almost 30 members of staff, board members and representatives of member companies and associations. We organised and spoke at dozens of events and held many meetings with high-level representatives from governments and regions across the world and international institutions, as well as helped represent the renewables industry as part of the Global Renewables Alliance. Now that the dust has settled and we’ve had time to reflect on what COP28 delivered, we’ve put together some of our key takeaways that the global solar industry should consider as we prepare our strategy for 2024 to continue accelerating the deployment of solar across the world.
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1 Market signals rule
At COP28 we secured the first ever global renewables target to triple total installed capacity by 2030, coupled with a commitment to the transition away from fossil fuels. This sends a powerful signal to global investors and financial markets in terms of the direction of travel for the global energy system. The financiers need to be constantly ahead of the curve, and the way to do that is now clearly to invest in renewables. Oil and gas finance is dwindling already, and this will cement that. We can now make the most of these targets when negotiating the finance for every single solar project from here on. With this new target, there is a clear market signal that renewables are in, and fossils are out.
2 Geopolitics is king
The global climate ‘social contract’ that the 2015 Paris Agreement represents is a delicate balance of the different groups of countries and geopolitical powers, as well as a balance of action on reducing emissions, adapting to climate impacts and financial transfers for adaptation and loss and damage. Of course, what happens in the negotiations does not dictate what happens in the ‘real economy’ that we as the solar industry operate in. However, the signals that come from a COP set the overall mood and direction of travel. We as a solar industry need to be engaging in these diplomatic processes, being a ‘maker’ of energy and economic diplomacy rather than a ‘taker’ of diplomatic headwinds and tailwinds. This means we need to be proactive in educating and engaging with countries, regions and international institutions such as the World Bank, the WTO, IEA and IRENA to make sure they are set up for success to accelerate the solar transition in the most efficient way possible where everyone can win. This is what the Global Solar Council is doing and plans to do more.
3 The power of renewables speaking together
This was the first COP where, under the leadership of the newly minted Global Renewables Alliance, all the renewables technologies and enablers spoke together as one voice. This was immensely powerful – allowing us to have more impact and be recognised as serious players at the table. Solar, wind and storage were even explicitly recognised in the final text for the first time.
Working with our renewable and storage peers, we need to be working towards a balance of technologies to achieve maximum and optimum decarbonisation of the energy system. No one technology or industry can get us to 1.5 degrees Celsius alone, and this level of global cooperation is critical to decarbonising the world’s energy system as fast as possible.
4 Solar can deliver, and fast
Time is of the essence. We are in a race against the clock to save 1.5C and avoid runaway climate change. Solar PV provides a practical, real world and – most importantly – fast-to-deploy solution to the energy transition. Solar deployment forecast numbers are incredible – we are on track for anywhere between 6TW and 8TW of solar PV by the end of the decade. But this exponential growth in solar will only happen with the right finance and grid, and with an open, free and fair supply chain – and that is what we need to deliver as the Global Solar Council by working with our members to create the right environment for solar to reach its full potential. At COP28, we heard ministers and government representatives from countries across the world say they want to deploy more solar – and now we need to work with them to help deliver on their ambition. This is especially critical in emerging markets, where we need to support the access to cheap finance and policies that can drive the deployment of cost-effective solar projects.
5 The power of a positive story
We all know the severity of the climate crisis we are facing. But in order to surmount the challenge, we need to be able to paint a picture of what a new economic system, what a new energy system, could look like. We need to show the world what an alternative way of living could look like. And solar in many ways epitomises just that – a clean, equitable and secure energy source for a clean, equitable and secure world. We need to sell our vision for what a solar future could look like so that it is no longer a futuristic fantasy, but a present-day reality. We need to shout it from the rooftops, from the ground and from floating solar installations all over the world. Join us!
Sonia Dunlop is CEO and Alyssa Pek is strategy and communications director of the Global Solar Council. The Global Solar Council is looking for leading solar companies around the world to join the association and work with us to address the challenges mentioned above – membership details available here.