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05 POLICY LANDSCAPE
Sidebar 4. Renewable Energy in Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)
and the COP21 Paris Agreement
National commitments to renewable energy deployment
received global attention throughout 2015 as the international
community worked to reach a global climate change agreement.
In December 2015, 195 countries adopted the first-ever universal,
legally binding global climate deal. In a shift from past processes,
the Paris Agreement drew heavily on a bottom-up approach
in which nations outlined their own concrete post-2020
mitigation commitments under Intended Nationally Determined
Contributions (INDCs) submitted throughout the year i .
Although the INDC commitments relate to all sectors of the global
economy, countries around the world identified the deployment
of renewable energy technologies as an effective mechanism for
achieving emissions reduction goals. The new goals expressed in
the INDCs draw on well-established renewable energy policies
and targets that countries have enacted for decades. Although
non-binding in nature, these activities outlined through the INDC
process served as the basis for the Paris Agreement ii .
A majority of the INDCs aim to decouple energy use and emissions
through commitments to scaling up the deployment of renewable
technologies. Of the 162 iii INDCs submitted, 106 indicate national
intentions to increase renewable energy deployment, and 74 of
these outline specific goals for renewable power, heating and
cooling, and transport technologies.
The scope and ambition of pledges vary greatly from country
to country. Many countries indicated their intention to rely on
policies and goals developed independently of the global climate
negotiations to meet their international emissions commitments,
while others used the INDC process as an opportunity to
introduce new or more-ambitious goals and strategies.
To meet their targets, some INDC submissions include calls for
specific policy mechanisms (such as feed-in tariffs or public
financing schemes) to drive national advances in renewable
energy and energy efficiency. Many other INDCs necessitate
a concerted effort from domestic policy makers to identify and
implement those policy measures that can best achieve national
goals. Sierra Leone, for example, called for the adoption of
specific emissions reduction actions such as a feed-in tariff and
the removal of fossil fuel subsidies.
Economy-wide renewable energy goals from some of the world’s
largest economies include Brazil’s target for renewables to meet
45% of total energy needs by 2030 and the United Arab Emirates’
target of 24% by 2021. China, a country with far-reaching existing
domestic renewable energy targets, committed to increasing its
share of non-fossil fuel energy iv to 20% by 2030.
Power generation technologies received the majority of attention,
with many INDCs committing to the deployment of specified
capacities or shares of renewable technologies. Non-Annex I
countries were primarily responsible for the highest targeted
renewable power shares submitted v .
i INDCs are a new and innovative tool submitted for the first time in the lead-up to the 2015 UNFCCC 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to outline
post-2020 climate actions that countries intend to take under an international climate regime. INDCs were born out of the 2013 Warsaw decision, in which
countries agreed “To invite all Parties to initiate or intensify domestic preparations for their intended nationally determined contribution, without prejudice
to the legal nature of the contributions”. Although the Paris Agreement is legally binding, it does not obligate countries to meet their individual nationallevel
targets.
ii The Paris Agreement represents a commitment by 195 countries to limit the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above
pre-industrial levels and to promote universal access to sustainable energy in developing countries.
iii The 162 individual submissions cover 189 countries, which account for approximately 95% of global emissions and 98% of the global population. The
European Union submitted an INDC covering 28 Member States. A total of 160 INDCs was submitted in 2015, and Nepal and Panama submitted their
INDCs in 2016, bringing the overall total to 162.
iv Non-fossil energy includes nuclear power.
v The UNFCCC divides countries into three main groups: Annex I, Annex II and Non-Annex I. Non-Annex I includes primarily developing countries.
Many Non-Annex I country targets include large-scale hydropower development.
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