HANOI, (Vietnam), Nov 15 (AP) : To meet the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), nine major Asian economies must increase the share of electricity they get from renewable energy from the current 6% to at least 50% by 2030, according to a report by a German thinktank released Wednesday.
Nearly a third of that renewable energy should come from wind and solar power, said the report by researchers of Berlin-based Agora Energiewende. A fifth would be hydropower and other clean sources and the remainder, fossil fuels.
The study analyzed energy plans of both developing nations like Indonesia and Vietnam where demand for energy is growing rapidly, and wealthier places like Japan and South Korea, which have among the highest burdens of per capita greenhouse gas emissions. It did not include China, the world's biggest emitter of carbon, or India, another major contributor.
A global temperature increase of 1.5C (2.7F) since pre-industrial times is considered a critical climate threshold beyond which risks of catastrophes rise. The world will likely lose most of its coral reefs, a key ice sheet could kick into irreversible melt, and water shortages, heat waves and death from extreme weather may surge, according to an earlier United Nations scientific report.
Agora Energiewende researchers found that Asian nations are united in their heavy reliance on fossil fuels and national plans are not aligned with ambitious climate pledges announced by their governments.
By using proven technologies like wind and solar power, countries can avoid exceeding limits they have set and also limit investment in fossil fuel infrastructure they won't need, said Mathis Rogner, the Southeast Asia project lead for Agora Energiewende and a co-author of the report.
To conform with 1.5C (2.7F) limit, the nine countries included in the study need to add 45 to 55 gigawatts of solar energy and 20 gigawatts of wind energy every year. In 2021, they had installed a total of just 11.9 gigawatts of solar energy and 1.5 gigawatts of wind energy.
The study reviewed energy plans of Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Taiwan.
A gigawatt is roughly the amount of energy a nuclear power plant produces in a year.
As of the end of 2022, the U.S. had installed capacity of more than 144 GW of wind power and 110 GW of solar photovoltaic power.
The need for urgent action was echoed by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who called for a "climate ambition supernova" after a U.N. analysis released Tuesday found that countries' climate plans still lagged far behind what was needed.
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