As the world’s only crowdsourced report on renewable energy, the Renewables 2021 Global Status Report from the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) covers policies, markets and more, while telling the most up-to-date global story on renewable energy.
Despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, renewable energy set a record in new power capacity in 2020 and was the only source of electricity generation to register a net increase in total capacity. Investment in renewable power capacity rose, although slightly, for the third consecutive year, and corporations continued to break records for sourcing renewable electricity. At the same time, primary energy demand fell by 4%. But even with this historic decline, G20 countries, the planet’s biggest polluters, barely met or even missed their unambitious renewable energy targets.
This year’s report shows that governments need to act more aggressively and press forward with renewables in all sectors in order to make the necessary paradigm shift towards a clean, healthier and more equitable energy future.