Global Solar Council side event at COP24: 15 recommendations on how solar energy can lead the fight against climate change

The Global Solar Council Side Event to COP24 was held yesterday at Polish Pavilion

Katowice, 6 December 2018 - Global Solar Council (GSC) took the opportunity of COP24 to organize a side event at the Polish Pavilion in cooperation with the Polish PV Association, Polskie Towarzystwo Fotowoltaiki, present its recommendations and relaunch the leadership of solar energy in protecting the climate, secure energy supply and create wealth, jobs and a new stable economy.

According to IRENA, the world’s total installed capacity of renewables up to 2030 is expected to grow by 76% compared to 2014 if the renewable energy targets in NDCs are fully met, which means at least 1.3 TW to be added globally in the years between 2015 and 2030. This involves a total investment to reach the renewable energy targets by 2030 of over USD 1.7 trillion.

The International Renewable Energy Agency has also identified solar PV as the largest renewable energy employer with around 3 million jobs worldwide. “Renewables already count 10 million jobs and they can reach 28 million by 2050 thanks to many influencing factors such as: technological advances, falling costs, deployment and industrial policies, education and skill-training” has commented Toshiaki Nagata - Senior Programme Officer, IRENA

To reach these goals, Global Solar Council has identified a series of policy positions and recommendations that can be summarized as following. Among the policy positions: recognize that solar PV: is a low-cost, reliable and clean source of energy; can alleviate poverty; enhance energy security; build capacities and create new jobs; improve quality through codes and standards.

Among the recommendations: to give solar PV equal access; implement a stable and consistent regulatory environment; remove restrictions on solar and energy storage self-consumption; introduce financing instruments to mitigating risk and to lower the cost of capital; government or community bodies to become participants in renewable energy investments; establish public-private partnerships; set an adequate price on carbon and promote regulated carbon markets; define acceptable exit strategies and concrete milestones for the transition from fossil fuel based energy to a renewable energy based system.

“Solar Energy has reached important goals in terms of technology and costs, now markets need to be re-designed to create a level playing field for all energy sources. In that context, Solar PV can lead the fight against climate change, being a driving force towards other renewables. Our policy positions and recommendations are essential to reach the 2030 targets and we are committed to disseminate them to all key decision makers” has commented Gianni Chianetta, Co-Chairman of Global Solar Council, who has presented the association recipe at the side event.

“Solar, Wind and other renewable sources need to work together to move as quickly as possible to meet the Paris objectives by delivering a completely renewable energy system globally by 2050” said Steve Sawyer - Senior Policy Advisor at the Global Wind Energy Council.

“Local governments or community bodies need to take the lead in their territories and become participants in renewable energy investments”, has added in the panel discussion Thomas Brose - Executive Director at Climate Alliance.

“Trillions of dollars will need to be invested in order to decarbonize the global economy and to reach the global renewables targets. This will require both public and private investments. High cost of financing is a major barrier to transforming renewable energy markets in many developing countries, and creating a conducive investment environment is critical. Our work with policy-makers focuses on identifying and implementing interventions that address risks associated with holding back private sector investment” has added Bahareh Seyedi, Energy and Climate Change Advisor at UNDP in her closing remarks

The Global Solar Council event was also an opportunity to take stock of the market in Poland which is at the early stage of development but growing. The installed capacity is around 400 MW including 280 MW in micro-installations. “The Polish government supporting all segments of the PV market. The prosumer sector is supported by a discount mechanism and the bigger sector by auctions.” - announced Artur Michalski, vice - President of the National Fund for Protection of Environment and Water Managements.

Global Solar Council will be also presented at COP24 on December 11^th, at the “Addressing Global Climate Change” event that will take place at the UNDESA-GEIDCO SDG Pavilion, Area E 34, at 9:20am, with a presentation of the Chairman Gongshan Zhu on the topic of “Promoting Green Energy Industry”.