About 100 experts from governments, industry, academia, financial institutions and civil groups around the globe gathered at the International Energy Agency (IEA) on 29 April 2016 to advise on how best to leverage renewable energy to fight against climate change, improve energy security and reduce local air pollution.

The IEA organised the high-level workshop on renewable energy to generate input for an in-depth feature on renewable energy in the 2016 edition of the Agency’s flagship publication World Energy Outlook (WEO) that will be released on 16 November. The in-depth feature will inform policy makers about the challenges and opportunities for the deployment of renewables for electricity generation and other uses.

“Only a week ago, 175 nations signed the historic Paris Agreement with a common objective to hold the increase in global temperature this century to well below 2 degrees Celsius,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol as he welcomed the participants to the Agency’s headquarters in Paris. “Impressive cost declines place renewable energy at the forefront to step up efforts to decarbonise the energy sector, provide electricity access to millions currently deprived, fight local pollution and create 21st century interconnected energy systems. The World Energy Outlook has long seen renewables providing the lion’s share of new electricity generation. However, we must go beyond current and proposed policies – we need to advise policy makers on how to massively scale up renewables in order to achieve our common climate and development goals.”

IEA Director of Sustainability, Technology and Outlooks Kamel Ben Naceur set out the work plan, with attendees subsequently presenting on and debating government policies to support the deployment of various renewable energy technologies measures to integrate renewables and the investment environment required for both renewable energy technologies and enabling infrastructure. Participants helped the WEO team identify policies and measures that can accelerate the uptake of renewables, while ensuring the affordability and reliability of the electricity supply. The IEA also worked with the experts to distil the analysis and key messages for policy makers and other readers of the in-depth feature on renewable energy.