G20 governments provided at least USD 168 billion in public financial support for renewable power in 2023, less than one third of G20 fossil fuel subsidies that year. Advanced G20 economies and China accounted for 95% of this support. Where disaggregated data was available, support was directed mostly to solar and wind. Public financial support may need to double to around USD 336 billion per year to achieve the pledge made at the 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP 28) to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030.
Authors
Tara Laan, Nhat Do, Steven Haig, Indira Urazova, Eduardo Posada, Hanjie Wang
- Pages
- 39
- Published in
- Canada
- Rights
- IISD, 2024
Table of Contents
- Box 1. Subsidy and public financial support: Definitions 12
- Box 2. China’s FIT policy 26
- Figure ES1. Comparison of G20 renewable power support with fossil fuel subsidies, 2020–2023 5
- Figure 1. Estimated support for renewable energy in G20 economies, 2023 14
- Figure 2. A comparison of support for renewable power generation and integration between advanced economies, China, and EMDEs, 2020–2023 16
- Figure 3. Estimated support for renewable power generation and integration compared with estimated fossil fuel subsidies in G20 economies in 2023 as a percentage of GDP 17
- Figure 4. Distribution of financial support for renewable power generation and integration in G20 countries in the 2020–2023 period (% based on the value of support measures) 18
- Figure 5. Support for renewable power in G20 countries by beneficiary type as a percentage of total support in the 2020–2023 period 19
- Figure 6. Comparing IRENA’s 2015 estimates with IISD inventory data (2020–2023) for renewable energy generation in select G20 countries 21
- Figure 7. A comparison of renewable power commitments in the GEST and IISD’s renewable power tracker 22
- Figure 8. Fossil fuel support vs. renewable power support, 2020–2023 23
- Table 1. Support for renewable power generation and integration in G20 countries by economy, 2020–2023 (USD billion, nominal) 15
- Table 2. Overview of national-level public financial support measures for renewable power in the top 12 countries providing support in G20 countries 25
- Table 3. Policy frameworks and incentives in China, the EU, and the United States 27
- Table A1. 34
- 1.0 Introduction 10
- 2.0 Methods 12
- 3.0 Results 14
- 3.1 Support for Renewable Power by Type 17
- 3.2 Support for Renewable Power by Beneficiaries 18
- 3.3 The Ratio of Public Support for Renewable Power to Investment 19
- 3.4 Comparison With the Results From Other Sources 20
- 3.5 Comparing Fossil Fuel Subsidies 22
- 3.6 The Ratio of Fossil Fuel Support to Investment 23
- 4.0 Public Financial Support Needed to Achieve the Tripling Target 24
- 5.0 The Changing Nature of Public Financial Support 25
- 6.0 Other Factors That Influence Renewable Energy Deployment 28
- 7.0 Conclusions 29
- References 31
- Appendix A. International Databases and Dashboards on Public Financial Support for Renewable Energy and Climate 34
