The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reported on Tuesday that renewable energy capacity worldwide grew by 9.6% last year. Despite this impressive growth, IRENA warned that the rate of expansion must triple to limit global warming.
IRENA's annual report on renewable energy statistics said global renewable energy capacity amounted to 3,372 GW at the end of last year, some 295 GW or 9.6% higher than the previous year.
Some 83% of all new power capacity last year was from renewables.
"This continued record growth shows the resilience of renewable energy amidst the lingering energy crisis," IRENA’s Director General Francesco La Camera said.
"But annual additions of renewable power capacity must grow three times the current level by 2030 if we want to stay on a pathway limiting global warming to 1.5C," he added.
Solar and wind energy were the dominant sources of renewable capacity expansion, accounting for 90% of all net renewable additions last year, the report said.
Almost half of the new capacity was added in Asia. China was the largest contributor to renewable energy, adding 141 GW of new capacity.
Renewables in Europe and North America grew by 57.3 GW and 29.1 GW respectively, while the Middle East recorded its highest increase in renewables on record, with 3.2 GW of new capacity commissioned in 2022, an increase of 12.8% from the previous year.
In a report released on Monday, the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emphasized the need for a significant reduction in emissions to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, a crucial target set forth in the Paris Agreement.