Decarbonizing the power sector by ramping up the adoption of renewable energy is essential to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The required acceleration of the global shift to low carbon can only be achieved through a combination of clean energy generation, modern transmission technologies and power grid interconnectivity, which all play important roles in the transition.

Under the Paris Agreement, countries have agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit the global average rise in temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius, thereby avoiding the most severe impacts of climate change such as increased droughts, flooding and severe storms.

To meet the long-term goals of the agreement, the share of renewables in the world’s primary energy supply must be raised from the current 15% to 65% by 2050. The energy transition in the power sector is well underway. But large markets such as Germany and China face bottlenecks in electricity transmission capacity that threaten to limit the future expansion of electrification and renewables, according to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

At the UN Climate Change Conference COP24 in Katowice, Poland (2 to 14 December), non-governmental international organization GEIDCO (Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization) will engage with participants with the aim of disseminating knowledge and improving the understanding of low carbon development, the more extensive use of renewable energy resources and a clean energy trading mechanism that can support the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Accelerating universal access to renewable energy

Made up of enterprises, institutions and individuals in 80 countries, GEIDCO is a strong advocate for the construction of a global pattern of interconnected power grids across regions, countries and continents that has the potential to solve the challenge of renewable energy production, allocation and trade.

According to GEIDCO’s calculations, with the implementation of a Global Energy Interconnection (GEI) pattern with an ultra-high voltage (UHV) smart grid as the backbone, the installed capacity of global clean energy is expected to reach 2,5 times that of 2014 or about 5,3 TW in 2030.

The organization calculates that energy interconnectivity could not only reduce carbon emissions, but also enable distribution of power to one-fifth of the world’s population who still have no access to electricity, relying on firewood, coal, and animal waste for cooking and heating.

“Building GEI is a road towards transformation, green development, prosperity, harmony and happiness”, said Liu Zhenya, Chairman of GEIDCO. “It will change the way of energy development and utilization, provide an ultimate solution to climate change and drive technological innovation and industrial development in areas like new energy, new materials, artificial intelligence, big data, and electric vehicles, to shape a new pattern of energy security featured with cooperation, mutual benefits and win-win results.”

The GEI initiative comprehensively promotes the implementation of six agenda items of the Paris Agreement, including mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology, capacity building and transparency.

To learn more, visit www.geidco.org and read GEIDCO’s publications.

GEIDCO Events at COP24

GEIDCO officials will take part in two side-events on sustainable energy and power grid interconnectivity at COP24:

• “Building Global Energy Interconnection, Promoting the Implementation of Paris Agreement”, release of the “Global Energy Interconnection Action Plan for Promoting the Implementation of the Paris Agreement" / December 10^th / 17:30-19:00 / Lubelskie Climate Action Room 3
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• "Energy Interconnection: Advancing Energy Transition for Sustainable Development”/ December 11^th / 13:00-14:30 / GEIDCO-DESA Pavilion 
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• "Building Global Energy Interconnection to Accelerate Sustainable Development" / December 12^th / 9:00-10:30 / GEIDCO-DESA Pavilion
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 About partnerships between UN Climate Change and non-Party stakeholders

The partnership with GEIDCO is part of a series of partnerships between UN Climate Change and relevant stakeholders to support climate action. The partnerships for COP 24 promote increased involvement of non-Party stakeholders as foreseen in the Marrakesh Partnership for Global Climate Action (MPGCA).

The MPGCA was a launched at COP22 by the Conference of the Parties, explicitly welcoming climate action of all non-Party stakeholders, including the private sector, to help implement the Paris Climate Change Agreement. All entities of society and business are strongly encouraged to scale up their efforts and support actions to reduce emissions, as well as to build resilience and decrease vulnerability to the adverse effects of climate change.