Progress on renewable energy played a big part in the UN’s successful Paris Climate Treaty—a part rarely acknowledged.
Of course, there are many parents to that huge global leap forward in 2015, but solar and wind power should take a bow—especially the dramatic cost reductions witnessed in the previous decade. Without that shift in the energy economics of climate action, I’m not sure Paris would have been agreed.
And as we look towards this year's summit in Glasgow, we need to remember that if politics is the art of the possible, UN climate negotiations are, in practice, the art of economics and technology, with a heavy seasoning of multi-dimensional diplomacy.
Which takes us back to renewable energy—and in the global picture, power. The very good news is that global solar and wind costs continue to fall.
And renewable power’s remaining challenge—variability, as the sun don’t always shine, and the wind don’t always blow—is fast being tackled with falling costs in storage and interconnection: rapid reductions in the costs of different batteries and different chemistries, coupled with developments in cabling technologies, are fast transforming the ability of renewable electricity to provide “firm” power, 24/7, 365 days a year.
As Joe Biden’s election on a climate action agenda provides a diplomatic rescue raft for the Glasgow talks, so the faster deployment of this cheaper green power can provide the alchemy.
As host, at least the UK has a good track record on renewable power. While the UK’s huge rise in renewable electricity has everything to do with Liberal Democrat energy and climate ministers, and little to do with the Conservatives, the question is: does the current government have the in-depth political understanding and skill to deploy this record to seal the ambitious deal we need?
The omens so far are bleak. From failure to provide its own domestic renewable power vision to shockingly bad diplomacy in Europe, the US and the developing world—the recent cut in our overseas aid budget has been a disaster—there is no sign of the nuanced understanding successful climate leadership needs.
So here’s an idea that might help: a new Sovereign Green Wealth Fund, to provide an answer for future renewable power in the UK, and for the climate diplomacy reset we desperately need. For Glasgow to be a success, we need to convince the world that going green is not only the cheap option, but the option that will promote energy independence and security in an increasingly nationalistic world.
My proposal for the UK is to use the new green wealth being generated by renewable power to invest in the next generation, and create a virtuous cycle of climate investment.
A kickstart for this Sovereign Green Wealth Fund comes from the £9 billion raised earlier this year, when the Crown Estate auctioned the right to build wind farms off the coast of England and Wales—attracting bids far higher than anyone had expected.
Current rules would see this massive new revenue stream from offshore wind power go straight into Treasury coffers. Why not, instead, ring-fence this new green wealth for investment in the green technologies and industries of the future—like tidal power, hydrogen, and green aviation? A Sovereign Green Wealth Fund capitalised by the increasingly strong returns to the Crown from offshore wind could transform confidence in the UK’s levels of climate ambition, so badly hit in recent years.
Globally, this type of initiative is a demonstrator of the political potential of renewable energy in almost every country. The message is clear: “you too can develop your own renewable power sources, generate green wealth and re-invest it for your country’s future.”
Solar, wind and tidal power offer an escape from fossil fuel dependency and from the foreign exchange drain of oil and gas imports. Sure, it isn’t great news for Putin, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the President of Venezuela. But for India, sub-Saharan Africa and the remote rural poor around the world, the green wealth of renewable power is the future liberation they need from the black poverty of the fossil past.
