There is plenty of good news from countries in the global south when it comes to growth in clean energy and decline in fossil fuels.
One in five countries in the global south has a larger share of green energy in its electricity mix than the average global north nation. That’s according to new analysis by the RMI, a US thinktank. It said that three quarters of global south countries, including Brazil, are now in the “sweet spot” whereby the falling cost of renewables triggers a cleantech “revolution”.
Fossil fuel demand for electricity will peak by 2030 in the south, and the remaining areas of demand growth are limited as the result of ongoing electrification and efficiency. The global south will therefore "not serve to prop up declining fossil fuel demand elsewhere."
In 2024, 87 percent of global south capital expenditure on electricity generation will flow into clean energy, and the IEA expects new solar and wind capacity to increase by 60 percent. Solar and wind generation has been growing at 23 percent each year for the past 5 years, supplies 9 percent of electricity generation, and is only 5 years behind the richer global north.
The global south contains just 20 percent of the world’s fossil fuel reserves, but has 70 percent of global renewables potential, according to the RMI. Its research follows last week’s report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), which predicted almost half of global electricity demand would be met by renewables by 2030.