ABU DHABI -- Francesco La Camera, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), has stressed the urgent need to triple the capacity of renewable energy to reach 11 terawatts by 2030, equivalent to the production of 1,000 gigawatts annually. He also pointed to the need to coordinate with the COP28 Presidency to implement commitments and ambitions on the ground.

In statements to the Emirates News Agency (WAM), La Camera said that this edition of COP28 will see more negotiations that will be implemented on the ground thanks to the clear visions and ambitions of the COP28 Presidency. Implementation requires attracting financing and finding ways to add more renewable energy sources to the grid.

He pointed to the report on the prospects for energy transitions, which the agency recently issued in cooperation with the COP28 Presidency and the International Renewable Energy Alliance. The report included a roadmap for accelerating the energy transition by tripling renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency by 2030. This falls within the framework of the goal of the COP28 Presidency's action plan, which is to accelerate a fair and orderly energy transition to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

La Camera added that many measures have been included that will help to stimulate more investments and renewable energy sources that are likely to be incorporated through the negotiations at COP28 and the final declaration. He stressed the need to promote a new narrative supporting COP28, which is the need to overcome the obstacles to obtaining more renewable energy sources.

He explained that the narrative addresses the physical infrastructure, policies, and institutional capacities that emerged from the fossil fuel era. It also includes providing interconnected and flexible networks to boost this vital sector and a legal environment and policy measures that drive demand for renewable energy, especially green hydrogen.

"This narrative is a way to show how we can accelerate the pace and take the right step to make the world capable of increasing renewable energy capacity by three times," La Camera said. He explained the agency's role in providing inputs to facilitate all these discussions and achieve positive results.

In the context of IRENA's efforts to achieve concrete results, La Camera said that the agency includes many specific initiatives, such as the Alliance for Industry Decarbonization, the Alliance for Responsibility, and the Energy Transition Accelerator Financing (ETAF) Platform. He noted that IRENA continues to register new members on the platform, which reflects the smooth and balanced progress of its work.

The IRENA Director-General stressed the importance of COP28 in bringing together stakeholders and countries to assess their success and progress in implementing the Paris Agreement. This will help to identify new ambitions in this framework and send a stronger message to move forward faster at the end of this year.

He added that IRENA will monitor and track implementation after COP28 and, obtain more work results and consider the possibility of implementing the results within the next month.

IRENA is preparing to announce the results of the ETAF initiative to accelerate the financing of renewable energy solutions at COP28, which will be held at the Expo City Dubai at the end of this month. The solutions and projects agreed to for implementation in the near future will also be announced.