This report, prepared jointly by IRENA, the IEA and REN21, identifies key barriers and highlights policy options to boost renewable energy deployment.

IRENA has analysed climate pledges under the Paris Agreement in relation to national energy plans and actual deployment trends. In many cases, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) have not kept up with recent, rapid growth in renewables.

This report presents the status of renewable energy employment, both by technology and in selected countries, over the past year. In this fourth edition, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) finds that renewable energy employed 9.8 million people around the world in 2016 – a 1.1% increase over 2015.

The report examines the specificities of mini-grids connected to solar, biomass, wind and small hydropower, or some combination of these with other energy sources, and discusses the key factors influencing investors in mini-grid projects.

Increasing economies of scale, more competitive supply chains and further technological improvements will continue reducing the costs of solar and wind power. The same factors will also boost the availability of these key renewable power sources at night and in varying weather conditions.

This report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) provides the first quantification of the macroeconomic impact of doubling the global share of renewables in the energy mix by 2030.

The second edition of REthinking Energy – the flagship report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) – looks at how the transition to renewables could help avert catastrophic global warming. As the report points out, renewable energy is at the core of any strategy for countries to meet climate goals while supporting economic growth, employment and domestic value creation.

What are renewable energy targets? Why set a renewable energy target? How should they be designed and translated into specific policy instruments?

Countries can use the “RETIP” process outlined in this handbook to design appropriate innovation strategies for renewable energy technologies.