• As many as 80% of survey respondents agreed that significantly accelerating renewable deployment is the most pressing issue requiring attention to meet targets.
  • Renewables have grown fast but fall short of achieving critical Paris Agreement climate goals.

Dubai, UAE: As the UAE prepares to host COP28, KPMG has launched Turning the Tide in Scaling Renewables, a comprehensive report that highlights 10 pressing challenges defining the energy transition and provides recommendations for solving them. The report, and accompanying survey, find that the current pace of renewable deployments is nowhere near sufficient to achieve the Paris Agreement's ambitions of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The findings are published as the COP28 presidency pushes for global commitments to triple renewable energy by 2030, with the report outlining the real-world challenges that will need to be overcome to achieve these ambitions.

The starting point for effective action is an accurate diagnosis of the primary challenges preventing a dramatic scale-up of renewable energy. COP28 host nation UAE has outlined its plans to triple the contribution of renewable energy under the UAE Energy Strategy 2050. By investing AED 150 to AED 200 billion by 2030, the UAE aims to meet the country’s increasing demand for energy to power a rapidly growing economy.

Fadi Al Shihabi, Partner, Head of Sustainability at KPMG Lower Gulf said: “COP28 is expected to respond decisively to gaps in global climate action. Here in the UAE, the government has made climate action a strategic priority by revising its national climate pledge under the Paris Agreement. It has increased its emissions reduction target to 40% from 31% by 2030, across industry, agriculture, and in power grid generation and transport. Greater collective action and ambition will be critical to preserve ecosystems and communities in the near future.”

Over 80% of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that significantly accelerating renewables deployment is the most pertinent issue requiring attention, with 84% identifying that current market barriers are causing substantial delays and, in some cases, even the abandonment of renewable energy projects.

In addition, 40% of survey respondents said current government policies are ineffective in accelerating renewable deployment, and these inhibiting government policies and regulations were cited as the number-one barrier to scale, with 77% of respondents identifying this challenge. Respondents ranked the other most significant obstacles to scaling renewables as market structures and design (75%), supply chain risks (61%), access to capital (48%) lack of investment in grid infrastructure (47%).

KPMG survey data included in the report is based on the results of an anonymized online survey conducted by KPMG International. In total, 110 respondents from various positions across the renewable energy industry, at both public and privately held companies, in over 24 countries answered questions about the need to accelerate renewable deployments, current market challenges, and policy effectiveness.

KPMG will share this report during COP28 in Dubai, and invites the financial community, energy companies, policymakers, academia, think tanks, thought leaders, and governing bodies to work together to accelerate the pace and scale of renewable energy deployment. For more information on the Turning the tide report, or to meet with KPMG professionals at COP28, visit www.kpmg.com/energytransition.

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Media contact:
Samreen Iqbal
Samreen.iqbal@bpggroup.com