The door to a new sustainable era of renewables is wide open' says climate envoy Morgan

She tells Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue that “2023 must be a new dawn’

The Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue opened today with the words of warning from the recent IPCC climate report ringing in its ears.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change delivered a grim assessment of efforts so far to combat carbon emissions, and its conclusions were highlighted in Berlin by Jennifer Morgan, Special Envoy for International Climate Action at the Federal Foreign Office.

“The IPCC report tells us we are on the brink of collapse,” she told a press conference. However, she added that “at the same time, this report gives us hope to keep the 1.5 degree goal in reach. We know the way forward.”

Much of Morgan’s hope is pinned to the fact that renewable energy capacity is consistently growing, but she said a slow-and-steady approach was not good enough.

“We need to speed up renewables. The door to a new sustainable era of renewables sources has been pushed wide open. We need to triple the pace of worldwide expansion.”

Morgan said that despite the IPCC report and others like it, “many still cling to old habits of the past, but the solutions of yesterday are no longer viable. 2023 must be a new dawn. It has to be the year that the phase-out of fossil fuels was pushed forward vehemently.”

“We have a lot to win: so let’s go!”

Morgan’s lauding of increased renewable capacity was echoed by Francesco La Camera, Director-General of IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency). It was, he said, the “only good news” of the past 12 months, because he did not share Morgan’s optimism about 1.5 degrees.

“Nothing has happened this year to make us more optimistic. We don’t see any kind of optimism.”

But there was consensus that building out renewables faster was the way out of the climate crisis and also of locking-in energy security.

The President of the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE), Dr Simone Peter, said: “The fossil-fueled crisis of supply and cost, which has been greatly exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, can only be overcome by the complete transformation of our energy supply and achievement of 100 percent renewables. 

“All countries have the potential to tap into local clean energy sources. Utilizing that potential is safer and cheaper for the population at large and for business interests than continuing to import fossil and nuclear fuels. 

The necessary technologies exist in all sectors and must now be employed across the board.”

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