Green stimulus programmes after the Global Financial Crisis stimulated GDP growth of between 0.1 per cent and 0.5 per cent for two years— even in the midst of a deep recession, where most countries’ GDP declined by 3 per cent to 5 per cent.
Leaders must learn these lessons well and increase their ambition to expand clean energy sectors that are proven to create investment and jobs and tackle the climate emergency.
Fast forward to the current pandemic, reduced energy demand driven by Covid-19 has clearly shown that our existing power grids can remain stable while record-breaking amounts of renewable power are integrated – at lower cost than fossil fuel energy. The current environment provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity for governments to boost green innovation within stimulus packages, accelerating the transition to net-zero.
Technology is available now for countries to make the shift to 100 per cent renewable energy, enabled and supported by battery storage as well as flexible generation transiting to use renewable and synthetic carbon neutral fuels. Plus, there’s a rich pipeline of technology innovation approaching commercialization – providing the cost-optimal flexibility we need to bridge the energy transition gap.
We are hopeful that the IEA Summit will encourage leaders to implement the smart policy needed to scale up existing technologies and accelerate the readiness of emerging technologies – both are needed to underpin the rapid transition to an affordable energy system built with a 100% renewable, flexible energy mix.”
Sushil Purohit quoted this immediately after the “IEA Clean Energy Transitions Summit” held on July 9, 2020. The event saw leaders representing 80 per cent of global energy consumption gathering at the highest-profile energy and climate discussion since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
