Decarbonising power is central to reaching zero emissions. Globally, power represents the highest emitting sector today. Its decarbonisation will also support emissions reduction in other sectors including infrastructure, industry, transport and agriculture.
To achieve a zero emissions transition in the power sector, energy-related emissions need to be reduced from a current ~37 gigatonnes (GT) of CO2 per year to zero by 2040.
While several pathways to power sector decarbonisation have been theorised, the International Energy Agency (IEA) 2035 pathway for the G7 has the strongest government endorsement. Their pathway specifies that 60% of energy supply should be produced by renewables by 2030.
Our report outlines reported progress to date, considers best practices for reporting progress from existing initiatives and makes recommendations to strengthen progress reporting for individual initiatives and the overall ecosystem. This report informed and is informed by the UN Climate Change Conference 2023 (COP28) in terms of initiative activity and feedback on the initial assessment we have drawn.
Our role and approach
Itad examined the publicly available information around progress on multilateral commitments to decarbonise power. These commitments are critical to drive ambition and speed up the zero emissions transition.
We analysed progress documents for a shortlist of initiatives against a set of criteria to assess:
- The strength of the evidence available on progress towards the commitments made
- The progress towards commitments achieved to date, based on this evidence
Using this assessment, we determined an overall rating for:
- The evidence of progress achieved
- The level of confidence in the progress rating based on the strength of the evidence available
We developed a set of headline findings drawing across the analysis of progress data. Based on this, we developed a set of best practice criteria and core recommendations for future progress reporting. These were shared with a select group of experts for verification.
Outcome and impact
To develop a holistic picture of change, it is important to also look at what is happening beyond the individual initiative, at the ecosystem level. However, a clear and quantifiable picture of progress made by the ecosystem of government-backed multi-lateral power sector initiatives is not available at present. This limited picture of progress presents challenges to understanding where to most effectively intervene or collaborate. As such, our report provides a vital tool to gain clarity on where progress is right now.
