A United Nations (UN) report has identified six priority areas for countries across the world to accelerate the new era of energy powered by renewable natural resources.
The areas include providing policy coherence, clarity and certainty in renewable energy, investing in enabling infrastructure for the 21st century energy system and meeting new electricity demand with renewables, especially for rapidly growing sectors.
The others are placing people and equity at the heart of the just energy transition to drive inclusive economic development, supercharge the transition by increasing cooperation on trade and investment, as well as dismantle structural barriers to mobilise energy-transition finance for developing countries.
This report, “Moment of Opportunity: Supercharging the new energy era of renewables, efficiency, and electrification”, was written by the Climate Action Team in the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General.
Policies
It was released on July 22, 2025, and indicated, among other things, that governments should align policies, incentives, and resources to seize the benefits of the emerging renewable energy economy.
That, it said, could be achieved by developing just energy-transition roadmaps as part of national strategies to strengthen green industrialisation and economic competitiveness.
These roadmaps would also help coordinate the rapid deployment of renewable energy technologies and the phase-out of fossil fuels, aiming for net-zero energy systems by 2050 at the latest, with developed countries leading the way.
The report said the rapid growth in renewable energy capacity must be supported by parallel developments in modern and flexible grid and storage infrastructure to rapidly scale up the share of renewables in overall power generation.
It said meeting the global goals of tripling renewable capacity and doubling energy efficiency should lead to the share of renewables in global power generation reaching around 60–70 per cent by 2030 and 80 per cent by 2035.
The report said growing energy demand could-- and should-- be met by renewables and other clean energy sources.
Cheapest
“Renewables are now the cheapest and quickest option for new power generation, making up 92.5 per cent of global power capacity additions and 74 per cent of global power generation growth in 2024,” it said, adding that “governments should strive to meet all new electricity demand with renewables, leveraging the lower average lifetime costs of renewables compared to fossil fuels for new power generation and avoiding future stranded assets.
The report urged major technology firms to commit to sourcing 100% of their operational energy needs from renewable sources by 2030
The report said governments should deliver universal clean electricity and clean cooking access for all by 2030 by leveraging the combination of grid, mini-grid, and off-grid renewables-based solutions.
It said they should ensure energy affordability in the transition.
Trade policies and investment agreements, the report said, should be designed to boost the energy transition.
It said governments should pursue robust cooperation to increase the diversification, resilience and security of global clean energy supply chains, including broadening opportunities for developing countries to participate by supporting them to design and implement integrated green energy-industry strategies to enter the renewable energy value chain and attract investment.
The report said mobilising funds for the clean energy transition in developing countries was hinged upon tackling persistent and systemic barriers in the international financial architecture, demystifying perceived risks, and addressing real risks to bring down the cost of capital for both debt and equity financing.
In a message read on his behalf, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, said by 2040, Africa could generate 10 times more electricity than it needs – entirely from renewables.
“We are already seeing small-scale and off-grid renewable technologies lighting homes, and powering schools and businesses,” he said in the message read by the Country Lead, Ocean Centres, Ghana, Dr Emmanuel Kofi Mbiah.
The energy transition, he said, was unstoppable.
The Executive Director of the UN Global Compact Network Ghana, Tolu Kweku Lacroix, said a UN Ocean Centre would be established.
