For people and the environment Making rapid headway on the global energy transition

Flooding in the south of Brazil and in eastern Europe, droughts in southern Africa, typhoons in Taiwan, heatwaves in India – all of these are just a few of the weather-related disasters that have occurred recently. Such events are becoming more frequent, threatening human lives and causing billions’ worth of damage. This is particularly true in developing and emerging countries, where extreme weather events are threatening and in some cases destroying the progress that has been made on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Global warming is one of the biggest challenges facing humankind.

Although the global community succeeded in creating the political framework for a climate-neutral world with the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, the goal of lowering greenhouse gas emissions has yet to be realised. The necessary process for reducing carbon emissions will only succeed if fossil fuels gradually give way to renewables, if burning coal, oil and gas is replaced by using electricity, if energy use becomes far more efficient, and if green hydrogen is used in industry and for storage. The energy sector is responsible for a significant share of CO2 emissions and, right now, these emissions are still continuing to grow.

Nevertheless, renewable energies are achieving new records each year. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the global build-out of solar energy alone has grown fourfold in just five years. That is huge progress – but it is still not happening quickly enough to achieve the internationally agreed 1.5-degree target. Which is why it is crucial that more sustainable energy is made available just as fast as possible. This will require a just and inclusive energy transition, with energy being made reliably available for all groups within society and no one having to face discrimination – whether social or economic.

This will be of benefit for partner countries, for climate change mitigation and for the German economy. Almost one in every two euros earned by Germany comes from exports. German providers of sustainable energy solutions benefit from the possibility of their products and services being used in partner countries and from being able to work with local companies. This allows them to tap into new markets, build new supply chains and benefit from global growth. The global energy transition thus offers the prospect of effective climate change mitigation and, at the same time, new opportunities for German companies.