BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 11. The world urgently needs investments in three key areas - network infrastructure, artificial intelligence (AI), and the development of the Global South - to realize global climate goals, the UAE's Special Representative for Climate Change, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and COP28 President Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said for the International Renewable Energy Agency's (IRENA) first analytical report, Trend reports.
Highlighting the UAE's strategic initiatives in the realm of renewable energy and climate finance, Al Jaber emphasized that Masdar, the premier renewable energy enterprise, is targeting an ambitious portfolio of 100 GW by 2030.
“We are also focused on supporting other countries, especially in the Global South. For instance, the Green Investment Initiative in Africa, launched last year with the participation of 14 countries, is providing $4.5 billion to install renewables with a total capacity of 15 GW,” the minister noted.
He cited as another example the ALTÉRRA Fund launched at COP28 in December 2023, the world's first private investment vehicle for climate solutions, which will mobilize $250 billion globally by 2030.
“Although renewable energy has made huge strides globally in the last twenty years, with capacity increasing eightfold and costs falling by 80 percent, the grid infrastructure in many industrialized countries is more than 60 years old, and in some parts of the Global South, it is non-existent. We need governments to step up and countries to include specific renewable energy and infrastructure targets in their upcoming Nationally Determined Plans (NDCs), incentivizing private investment and making it easier to develop and deploy projects,” Al Jaber emphasized.
According to him, artificial intelligence can strategically tackle the pivotal intermittency hurdles associated with sustainable energy solutions and advanced storage systems.
“AI can make grids smarter and can extend the life of energy storage batteries and improve storage capacity. AI can also help integrate baseload and renewable energy sources, minimizing emissions and maximizing energy security,” Al Jaber believes.