A total of 117 governments pledged today to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030 at the UN climate summit (COP28).

The pledge was among a series of announcements made by COP28 today aimed at decarbonising the energy sector – the source of around three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions – which included expanding nuclear power, reducing methane emissions and curbing private finance. for coal energy.

“This can and will help the world move away from unabated carbon,” said Sultan al-Jaber of the United Arab Emirates and president of the COP28 summit.

Led by the European Union, the United States and the United Arab Emiratesthe pledge also said that a tripling of renewable energy would help remove CO2-emitting fossil fuels from the global energy system by 2050 at the latest.

Supporters today were Brazil, Nigeria, Australia, Japan, Canada, Chile and Barbados.

While China and India have hinted that they will support a tripling of renewable energy by 2030, none did not today support the Global Commitment – which combines increasing clean energy with reducing fossil fuel use.

Supporters, including the EU and the UAE, want the renewable energy pledge included in the final UN climate summit decision to make it a global goal. This would require consensus among the nearly 200 countries present.