Political and business leaders have committed more than $400 billion to the expansion of renewable and clean energy, the UN announced. They also vowed to dramatically expand access to electricity in developing nations.
World leaders have promised to make electricity both more sustainable and accessibleImage: picture-alliance/blickwinkel/McPhoto/BilderBox
The commitments, made on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, also envisage reliable access to electricity for hundreds of millions of people.
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What are they promising?
The pledges include projects to expand access to electricity in developing countries and improve energy efficiency.
More than 35 countries — from small developing island states to major emerging and developed economies — have made significant new energy commitments in the form of energy pacts, the UN said.
Several large companies also made pledges, including TotalEnergies, Schneider Electric and Google.
Among the promises is a German commitment to increase its own proportion of renewable energy in total electricity consumption to 65% by 2030.
Berlin has pledged to support partner countries in expanding innovative technologies such as green hydrogen and "power to x," an innovation to use surplus electric power.
The government has also committed to providing €7 billion toward speeding up the market rollout of hydrogen technology in Germany.
Solar energy around the world: From mini-grids to solar cities
Solar energy is now the cheapest energy source in the world. Rural villages, community initiatives and big cities are all choosing to generate energy form the sun, in all sorts of diverse ways.
Image: Gemeinde Saerbeck/Ulrich Gunka
Drinking water from the sun
The village of Rema in Ethiopia operates a solar pump with a connected water tank. The well is far away from the village, and the water used to have to be piped to the village with a diesel pump. But this was often broken or there was not enough fuel. Since 2016, a solar pump has been supplying water to the 6,000 inhabitants, many of whom also need the water for their fields.
Image: Stiftung Solarenergie
Recharging cellphones without a power grid
Most people in rural regions in East Africa have no access to the power grid. Increasingly, popular solar kiosks like this one in Olkiramatian, Kenya can provide electricity. For a small fee, the solar power from the roof is used to charge cellphones, for example. In this way, people can stay in touch, make money transfers by phone or check the market prices for their vegetables.
Image: Solarkiosk GmbH
Power for campesinos
Here in Miraflor, in northern Nicaragua, people make their living from coffee cultivation and traditional agriculture. Until 2013, this area had no electricity at all. Then local electricians installed solar panels on the homes of over 600 families. Local farmers or "campesinos" now have enough electricity for light, refrigerators and TV.
Image: Stefan Jankowiak
Solar panel communities
This housing development in Freiburg, southern Germany, generates more energy than the residents here consume. Built 20 years ago, it has become a model for urban development. With good insulation, cleverly-utilized ventilation, solar roofs and heat pumps, more and more old houses are now being converted into energy-plus houses. This saves money and helps protect the climate.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Haid
Reaching rural areas with micro-grids
The startup SOLshare gives people in rural Bangladesh access to cheap and clean electricity through self-sufficient micro-grids, and creates an additional source of income for them. Households with solar systems are connected to others who do not yet have access to the grid. Solar power can also replace diesel and kerosene during power outages.
Image: ME SOLshare Ltd.
Solar power fighting COVID
This hospital in Tabarre, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is powered by this rooftop solar installation. At 710 kilowatts, it is the largest in the country. Coronavirus patients are cared for here, and all medical equipment runs on solar power. Thanks to the system, around €50,000 ($59,000) is saved on diesel power every year.
Image: Biohaus-Stiftung.org
Mini-grid for an entire village
The Kenyan village of Talek has 1,500 inhabitants and has had solar power since 2015. The photovoltaic system with an output of 50 kilowatts is located on a small field, and the batteries are housed in the small building next to it. George Ndubi looks after the private solar power plant with mini-grid, which can supply up to 300 customers with electricity.
Image: Imago Images/photothek/T. Imo
Solar oasis
Water is scarce in the Egyptian desert. This makes the solar power plant in the El-Wahat el-Bahariya Oasis all the more important. It powers the water pump, without which farming would be impossible here. As with everywhere else in the desert, the farmers have to keep clearing sand from the solar panels.
Image: Joerg Boethling/imago images
Climate neutral by 2025
The Danish capital, Copenhagen, wants to be climate neutral by 2025, which is why more and more areas in the city are being used to produce renewable energy. The solar panels on the front of this school, for example, generate electricity. In addition, car traffic in the city is being restricted, e-mobility is being promoted, wind farms are going up and more and more houses are being renovated.
Image: picture alliance / Zoonar
International exchange of ideas
The small town of Saerbeck in western Germany generates more electricity with solar, wind and biomass power than its 7,200 citizens consume. The energy park is now a model for other small communities around the world. Here, a delegation from the US visits for ideas to implement back home.
"Access to clean, renewable energy is, quite simply, the difference between life and death," Guterres said.
Among the ways of achieving this goal are alternatives to national power grids. These include "swarm grids" — a system of power cubes that appear like large car batteries and which are charged by solar array.
The UN chief outlined four priorities for a future of sustainable energy:
Cutting in half the number of people without access to electricity by 2025
Rapidly shifting to clean energy sources
Achieve universal energy access by 2030
Ensuring that efforts to cut carbon dioxide do not mean leaving some without access to power
"We cannot wait another 40 years," Guterres said. "The age of renewable, affordable energy access for all must start today."
How green is Germany?
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Separate pledges from China, US
There were also promises this week by the leaders of the world's two largest economies, who announced separate measures at the UN General Assembly.
The pledges came as young climate activists from Greta Thunberg's Fridays for Future movement resumed global mass street protests for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Thunberg herself was in Berlin on Friday, two days ahead of Germany's federal election.
They demanded drastic action from global leaders ahead of UN climate talks in November.
Leaders and representatives of the UN's 193 member states are taking part in the UN General Assembly until Monday, either in person or online.
The energy summit is among several taking place at the same time, including a high-level online summit on distributing coronavirus vaccines more fairly.
