The world is 1.1 °C warmer today than in pre-industrial times, and although the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a decrease in CO₂ emissions, global warming remains on the wrong trajectory. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a 1.5 °C increase in global average surface temperature will have devastating consequences for our planet, causing extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and climatic changes. The temperature increase is largely caused by the growing concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere, and energy production and usage remain the primary emitter. It is therefore abundantly clear that urgent change is needed in the world’s energy mix. For instance, according to the International Energy Agency, a 40 percent reduction in emissions by 2030 will require nearly 75 percent of global electricity generation to come from low-emission sources by this time.
To change our planet’s trajectory, the most cost-effective and immediate path to meaningful emissions reduction is large-scale deployment of renewable energy. However, as the penetration of renewable electricity increases, this alone will not be enough to avoid a temperature increase above 1.5 °C. We must therefore address the following three challenges: