Tripling Renewables: Powering Climate Action – Executive Summary is an Executive Summary of the policy brief Tripling Renewables: Powering Climate Action Across Sectors, published by the NDC Partnership in May 2025. It summarizes the case for embedding renewable energy across sectors in the next generation of Nationally Determined Contributions, known as NDCs 3.0.
Key insights:
The executive summary explains that the first Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement calls for tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030 to keep the 1.5°C goal within reach.
Renewables are presented not only as a mitigation tool, but as a broader enabler of resilience, development, energy access, and human wellbeing.
Renewable energy now dominates new power generation globally, accounting for 86% of new capacity added in 2023.
Despite this progress, renewable deployment remains highly concentrated in China, Europe, and the United States, while Africa accounted for only 0.5% of new power capacity in 2023.
More than 65% of countries already include specific renewable energy targets in their NDCs, but current targets would only deliver about half of the renewable capacity needed to meet the Global Stocktake tripling goal.
The summary highlights a mismatch between national energy plans and NDCs, with national energy plans often being more ambitious than the renewable energy targets reflected in NDCs.
Most NDCs still focus mainly on power generation, while overlooking the role of renewables in key systems such as food, water, and health.
Agrifood systems account for around 30% of global energy use and remain heavily dependent on fossil fuels, showing major potential for renewable energy integration.
Water systems currently account for about 4% of global energy use, but their energy demand is rising due to desalination and pumping needs.
Health services, especially in low-income settings, are affected by unreliable electricity access, with nearly 1 billion people served by health facilities without stable power.
The summary recommends that NDCs 3.0 align renewable energy targets across climate, energy, and development plans; expand renewables beyond the power sector; strengthen cross-ministerial collaboration; develop sector-specific roadmaps; and mobilize local governments and communities.
Main message: Tripling renewables by 2030 is not only a climate target. It is also a development and resilience priority. NDCs 3.0 should move beyond headline renewable energy targets and become practical tools for coordinating policies, mobilizing finance, and integrating clean energy across food, water, health, transport, and other essential systems.
