Scaling Up Renewables in Landlocked Developing Countries

Characterised by remoteness from global markets due to the absence of territorial access to the sea, landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) grapple with myriad special challenges, including complex procedures for border transit, exacerbated by poor infrastructure, inefficient logistics systems and weak institutions. LLDCs feature among the poorest of the developing countries; of the 32 LLDCs, 17 are categorised as least developed countries (LDCs).

Many LLDCs are rich in renewable resources and can take full advantage of decreasing renewable energy costs to make progress in realising a clean energy transition and close the access gap, while creating new jobs and advancing socio-economic and industrialisation objectives.

This report was produced jointly by IRENA and the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS). It provides an overview of deployment trends, drivers, barriers and opportunities for energy transition in LLDCs, while focusing on the challenges they face in attracting renewables investment towards achieving universal access and net zero targets. The report offers recommendations for LLDCs to accelerate deployment in line with the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement. In addition, this report contributes to the substantive preparatory process on the thematic area of renewable energy for the Third United Nations Conference on LLDCs in 2024, which aims to formulate and adopt a renewed framework for international support.