IRENA chief warns tripling renewables by 2030 may still fall short of climate goals
IRENA director-general Francesco La Camera said that even if the world nearly reaches the 2030 target of 11.2 TW of renewable capacity, rising demand could keep the climate agenda off track.
At Singapore International Energy Week, Francesco La Camera, the head of the International Renewable Energy Agency, warned that the world’s push to triple renewable capacity to about 11.2 TW by 2030 may still be insufficient to meet the climate targets set at COP28. He explained that energy demand is accelerating due to higher heating, cooling and the surge in AI-driven data-centre power use, outpacing earlier forecasts.
The promised doubling of the global annual energy-efficiency improvement rate has also lagged, widening the supply-demand gap. Although 2025 saw a record addition of 692 GW of renewable power, representing 85.6 % of all new capacity, La Camera stressed that a sustained transition is required and that natural gas will remain part of the mix during the shift. He highlighted a Chinese data-centre that runs on a mix of solar, wind, hydro and concentrated solar power as a model for replacing new gas plants. Finally, he warned that electricity costs will increasingly influence economic competitiveness, favoring renewables.
Why it matters
The warning signals that current renewable expansion may not curb emissions fast enough, affecting global climate commitments.
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