The Renewables 2019 Global Status Report reveals that the year 2018 saw a relatively stable market for renewable energy technologies. A total of 181 gigawatts of renewable power was added, a consistent pace compared to 2017, and the number of countries integrating high shares of variable renewable energy keeps rising. Progress once again was concentrated in the power sector - as renewable energy became increasingly cost-competitive compared to conventional thermal generation - and far less growth was observed in the heating, cooling and transport sectors.
Decarbonisation pathways and frameworks were developed further during 2018. Developing and emerging economies continued to increase their deployment of renewables, and distributed renewable energy systems further, reaching households in remote areas. The private sector is playing a key role in driving renewable energy deployment through its procurement and investment decisions: corporate sourcing of renewables more than doubled during 2018.
As of 2017, renewable energy accounted for an estimated 18.1% of total final energy consumption. Opportunities continue to grow for increased use of renewable electricity in end-use sectors. Sector integration attracted the attention of policy makers, and the markets for enabling technologies grew. However, despite this progress in renewables uptake, energy efficiency and energy access, the world is not on track to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement or of Sustainable Development Goal 7. Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions grew an estimated 1.7% in 2018 and fossil fuel companies continued to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on lobbying to delay, control or block climate change policies and on advertisements to influence public opinion.