Record Growth in Renewables: Global Status Report 2022

28 June 2022: REN21’s Renewables 2022 Global Status Report (GSR 2022) sends a clear warning that the global clean energy transition is not happening, making it unlikely that the world will be able to meet critical climate goals this decade. The second half of 2021 saw the beginning of the biggest energy crisis in modern history, exacerbated by Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 and unprecedented global commodity shock.

“Although many more governments committed to net zero greenhouse gas emissions in 2021, the reality is that, in response to the energy crisis, most countries have gone back to seeking out new sources of fossil fuels and to burning even more coal, oil and natural gas,” said Rana Adib, REN21 Executive Director.

GSR annually takes stock of renewable energy deployment worldwide. The 2022 report is the 17th consecutive edition and provides proof of what experts have been warning about: the overall share of renewables in the world’s final energy consumption has stagnated – rising only minimally from 8.7% in 2009 to 11.7% in 2019 – and the global shift of the energy system to renewables is not happening.

In the electricity sector, record additions in renewable power capacity (314.5 gigawatts, up 17% from 2020) and generation (7,793 terawatt-hours) were unable to meet the overall increase in electricity consumption of 6%. In heating and cooling, the renewable share in final energy consumption increased from 8.9% in 2009 to 11.2% in 2019. In the transport sector, where the renewable share went from 2.4% in 2009 to 3.7% in 2019, the lack of progress is particularly worrying, as the sector accounts for nearly a third of global energy consumption.

For the first time, the GSR 2022 provides a world map of renewable energy shares by country and highlights progress in some of the leading countries.