World Energy Transition Outlook: Towards a Net Zero Future in Latin America and the Caribbean

Global efforts towards combating climate change are at an all-time high, as countries around the world cope with a general rise in temperatures and are gradually undergoing a shift, envisioning a future of electrification and energy grids that is built around renewable energy technologies that increase efficiency and foster conservation of the environment, giving us the best  chance of limiting global warming to 1.5°C by 2050. While the energy sector has historically been known for its slow pace of change, today it is actively turning to renewable and related technologies to secure what is required to address climate change, energy poverty and energy security.

There is a growing number of countries committing to net-zero carbon strategies, indicating a major change in the global climate discourse. Similar trends are observed at all levels of government and in the private sector.

IRENA’s World Energy Transitions Outlook (WETO) outlines the avenues to take us out of the climate crisis toward a resilient and more equitable world, offering a compelling path for decarbonising all energy uses, with electrification and energy efficiency as primary drivers, enabled by renewables, green hydrogen and sustainable modern bioenergy.

Latin America is a region with vast renewable energy resources and with an enormous potential to further increase the role of renewable energy technologies, contributing at the same time to bringing the world closer towards net-zero emissions in the coming decades. The accelerated development of a sustainable energy sector could provide the Latin-American region with long-term strategies to address issues related to social inequality, energy access and energy security. At the same time, it can stimulate the expansion and growth of other industrial, agricultural, manufacturing and transport sectors within the use of clean energy technologies, while reducing the carbon emissions of the region.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) co-organised this virtual event to provide insights into options, trends and challenges to achieve the Paris Agreement Objectives and limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C and bring CO2 emissions to net zero by 2050,  with a focus in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, building on the findings of the World Energy Transition Outlook (WETO) report. The event provided an insightful discussion among government representatives on the current work being developed in their countries and the ongoing efforts to accelerate the region’s energy transition and climate action.

The detailed agenda and concept note are available here.