The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) France has issued a new report titled 15 Signals: Evidence the Energy Transition is Underway which highlights important signs that an unstoppable global energy transition is in place.

These signals can be seen in the growth of renewables, the rise of city-level climate actions, the stagnation of CO2 emissions and in companies who are committing to science based targets as the foundation of their climate actions, to name just a few.

As global leaders get set to meet at the next UN climate talks in Marrakech. Morocco on November 7, governments and other stakeholders need to recognise that energy is evolving and action is required to maintain momentum and accelerate the transition.

WWF-France CEO, Pascal Canfin said: “Despite the evidence of the energy transition, there is still a wide gap between what leaders are agreeing to in global deals and their actions. We need to accelerate the transition and scale it up to have a chance of keeping global temperature rise to below 2°C, trying for 1.5°C, as countries committed to in the Paris Agreement just eight months ago,” he said.

Tanzeed Alam, director of Climate Change and Energy, EWS-WWF said: “Hot on the heels of the US and China, the UAE ratified the Paris Agreement on September 4th and became the first oil producer and country from the Mena region to do so.”

“The early ratification of the Paris Agreement by the US and China highlights that the energy transition has begun, and that the rest of the world needs to follow suit. By becoming one of the ‘early adopters’, the UAE is sending a strong signal to regional leaders and investors. In line with The UAE Vision 2021, the agreement supports the government’s ambition to scale up the use of ‘clean energy’.

“In fact, the country is in a unique position to increase its own ambition levels for domestic climate change action, especially on increased targets for solar power something that has huge potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, grow the economy and support an organic transition away from oil,” Alam added.

As 2016 heads into the record books as likely the hottest year ever recorded in history, it is a reminder that there is little time left to act to keep global temperatures well below 1.5C, Alam said. – TradeArabia News Service