Opinions and Interviews
Renewable energy growth must speed up to meet Paris goals, agency says
Renewable electricity production needs to grow eight times faster than the current rate to help limit global heating, according to a report. The International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) said urgent action was needed to keep pace with rising demand for electricity, which could require a total investment of $131tn in renewables by 2050.
15 March 2021 | Interview | The Guardian
"Geopolitical Risk Of Renewable Energy, Overcome With Technology" Mr. La Camera (DG Interview + Japanese + Subscription)
The new coronavirus has hit the world economy. However, the impact of the coronavirus on the spread of renewable energy was relatively small. The price of renewable energy continues to fall, making it the most convenient way to generate electricity.
12 March 2021 | Interview | Nikkei
Breakingviews - Guest view: 2021 is tipping point to hit net zero (DG Op-ed)
This year will have a lasting impact on our world. The pandemic is taking a heavy human toll, the global economy is struggling, inequality is on the rise, and there are many uncertainties about the future. As the leaders of the International Renewable Energy Agency and the International Energy Agency, we want to highlight three no-regret areas for action to help navigate the current crisis while moving towards a cleaner energy future.
25 February 2021 | Opinions | Reuters
Electric islands: the Greek embrace of renewable energy (Subscription)
Female Mayors at the forefront of green development in the Mediterranean. “On most larger islands tourism drives the local economy, and any intervention that makes them look less attractive on Instagram is going to be fiercely opposed,” says Angelos Asimacopoulos, an owner of several small hotels in the central Aegean. Yet renewable energy is becoming increasingly central to energy security for island economies around the world, according to Francesco La Camera, director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
13 February 2021 | Interview | Financial Times
'Forgotten workhorse' hydropower needs government support, energy leaders say
Governments must provide incentives to help drive investment in hydropower as the “forgotten workhorse” if the world is to meet pledges to cut emissions and combat climate change, energy agencies said on Wednesday. Francesco La Camera, director of The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said that a post-coronavirus economic recovery should involve a jump in annual investments in hyrdropower from $22 billion to $55 billion to 2030.
03 February 2021 | Interview | Reuters
Renewables Chief Hails ‘Crucial’ Biden Climate Agenda As Administration Plans Massive Energy Overhaul
The International Renewable Energy Agency has hailed the U.S. decision to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord as a “crucial” step forward in the fight against climate change. “It means a lot for the renewable world, and for the energy transition,” Francesco La Camera, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency told CNBC at the Atlantic Council’s annual Global Energy Forum.
25 January 2021 | Interview | CNBC
Using solar power and green hydrogen, the road ahead can look bright
When we look back at the history of global development, the year 2015 will be remembered as a turning point. It was a year during which both the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement were established. Both those events marked a period of collective global intent to bend the curve of rising emissions and reverse the world's growing inequalities. It was a year of renewed multilateralism, of hope and ambition.
21 January 2021 | Opinions | The National
Catalysing the energy transition with green hydrogen
Renewable energy represents not only a tool to reduce climate heating, but also a deep, largely untapped pool of job and wealth creation, writes Francesco La Camera, director general, International Renewable Energy Agency.
16 December 2020 | Opinions | Global Governance Project - G20 Issue
Modi is set to virtually lay the foundation stones for the world's largest hybrid renewable energy park at Khavda and a desalination plant in Mandvi along the Arabian Sea coast. (DG Intervention + Italian)
Debate on Radio Radicale conducted by Valeria Manieri and Ruggero Po, with guests Francesco La Camera (Director-General of the International Agency for Renewable Energy - IRENA), Alessandro Motta (Deputy Ambassador to London Plenipotentiary Minister, member of the UK-Ita Joint Task Force for Cop26), and Donato Speroni (contact person of the ASviS secretariat in the Working Group on Goal 7 on clean and accessible energy, and 13 on the fight against climate change).
14 December 2020 | Interview | Agenzia ANSA
Biden’s climate agenda goes global (Subscription)
With 85 per cent of the world’s energy emissions produced outside the US, the president-elect must take his agenda overseas. A global energy transition is “already in place and unstoppable” but the pandemic is helping the “old energy world” hold on to its place, according to the head of the International Renewable Energy Agency.
03 December 2020 | Interview | Financial Times