IRENA believes that “energy” and “power” are interchangeable.
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The 15th International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Assembly in Abu Dhabi, marked the commencement of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2025. The assembly brings together ministers, high-level delegates, and experts from IRENA’s member states to address pressing energy transition challenges and assess collective progress towards global sustainability goals. I wish I could go too.
What’s important?
Key discussions at the assembly focus on tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030, a target that requires significant acceleration in deployment rates. IRENA’s analysis indicates that to reach the 2030 goal of 11.2 terawatts of renewable capacity, an annual growth rate of at least 16.4% is necessary. This ambitious target stems from the UAE Consensus reached at COP28, which aims to keep the 1.5°C climate goal within reach.
The assembly also emphasises enhancing ambition in Nationally Determined Contributions and supporting transitions in emerging economies. IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera stressed the importance of maintaining renewables as a top global priority, highlighting the assembly’s role in navigating the energy transition amid rapid global transformations.
Financial aspects of the transition are a crucial focus, with discussions on leveraging innovative financial flows in developing countries. IRENA estimates that achieving the global goal of tripling renewables by 2030 requires an investment of USD 1.5 trillion per year.
ADSW 2025, which runs from January 12-18, provides a broader platform for advancing sustainable development through various initiatives and events. This convergence of global leaders and sustainability experts underscores the urgent need for collaborative action to accelerate the renewable energy transition and address climate change challenges.
“Power” refers to the rate at which energy is generated or used, meaning how quickly work is done, while “energy” represents the total amount of capacity to do work, essentially the “quantity” of work that can be performed.
Clock it!
References:
Google. (2025). Gemini (Imagen 3) [AI image generator]. https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/imagen
IRENA, 2025. 15th IRENA Assembly to Set Energy Transition Narrative for 2025. [online] Available at: <https://www.irena.org/News/pressreleases/2025/Jan/15th-IRENA-Assembly-to-Set-Energy-Transition-Narrative-for-2025> [Accessed 15 January 2025].
IRENA, 2024. Global Goal of Tripling Renewables Needs USD 1.5 Trillion Investment Per Year. [online] Available at: <https://www.irena.org/News/pressreleases/2024/Oct/Global-Goal-of-Tripling-Renewables-Needs-USD-1-point-5-Trillion-Investment-Per-Year> [Accessed 15 January 2025].
IRENA, 2025. IRENA at the World Future Energy Summit 2025. [online] Available at: <https://www.irena.org/Events/2025/Jan/IRENA-at-the-World-Future-Energy-Summit-2025> [Accessed 15 January 2025].
Climate Change News, 2024. IRENA: Global goal of tripling renewables by 2030 still out of reach. [online] Available at: <https://www.climatechangenews.com/2024/07/11/global-goal-of-tripling-renewables-by-2030-still-out-of-reach-says-irena/> [Accessed 15 January 2025].