July 19, 2021 - major CEOs of the global wind energy industry unite to call on G20 Member States to show leadership in the climate crisis, improve national ambitions, and formulate specific plans as soon as possible to increase wind energy production to replace fossil fuels.

On behalf of the members of cop26 global wind energy alliance, 25 CEOs sent an open letter to G20 leaders, saying that although some progress has been made in energy transformation, the current net zero commitment of G20 countries still puts the world on the path of global warming of 2.4 ℃, which is far beyond the scope required to avoid the most serious impact of climate change.

At the same time, the installation of wind and renewable energy is far below the amount needed to achieve the international climate goals, and urgent action is needed to improve energy policies.

The carbon emissions of G20 member countries account for more than 80% of the global energy related carbon emissions. Therefore, the leaders of these countries have the power and public responsibility to change the world energy system. These countries need to take renewable energy, especially wind energy, seriously as a clean energy solution with the greatest potential to help the world achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Ben Backwell, CEO, Global Wind Energy Council

"G20 member countries account for more than 80% of global energy related carbon emissions - so their leaders have the power and public responsibility to transform the world energy system," said Ben backwell, CEO of GWEC. "These countries need to take renewable energy seriously, especially wind energy, because it is a clean energy solution with the greatest potential to help the world achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement."

The letter is from the largest wind power companies - including Vestas, sgre, & Oslash; Rsted, SSE, RWE and mainstream renewable energy companies, as well as association leaders representing major regional industries such as the UK, Europe, Brazil, China, Mexico, Southeast Asia and South Africa.

The signatories stressed that the recent road map of the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that the annual wind deployment must be quadrupled from 93gw in 2020 to 390gw in 2030 to meet the net zero scheme in 2050. The International Energy Agency and the International Renewable Energy Agency agree on the total wind energy capacity required for the net zero scheme conforming to the 1.5 ℃ heating path, and predict that 8265gw and 8100gw will be required by 2050 respectively.

According to the letter, if the current wind energy growth rate is followed, the global wind energy capacity will be much lower than the amount required for carbon neutralization by 2050, and the gap in installation will be as high as 43% by 2050.

G20 countries have a large number of untapped wind power generation potential, which can meet a large part of national power demand, but their current deployed wind power generation has hardly touched the surface of its potential. According to the current global wind power installation speed, the forecast shows that by 2050, we will only install less than half of the wind power generation capacity to achieve net zero emission.

Rebecca Williams, COP26 Director of operations, Global Wind Energy Council

"G20 countries have a lot of untapped wind power potential, which can meet a large part of national power demand, but their current wind power deployment has hardly touched the surface of its potential," said Rebecca Williams, operation director of cop26 and global wind energy committee, "At the current speed of wind power installation all over the world, the forecast shows that by 2050, we will only install less than half of the wind power generation capacity to achieve net zero emission.

In order to achieve this level of deployment, the open letter calls on the 20 member states:

  1.Increase ambition for wind power at the national level.

  2.Implement an effective policy and regulatory framework for the procurement and provision of renewable energy.

  3.Committed to the rapid construction of clean energy infrastructure, including power grid and transmission.

  4.Agree on an effective and credible carbon pricing mechanism.

  5.Align national and regional financial flows with benchmarks that meet the net path of 1.5 ° C.

  6.Develop cohesive and inclusive policies to use public resources for the transition to a net zero economy.

Over the past 20 years, wind energy has proved its ability to double production while reducing costs, create millions of technical jobs and stimulate large-scale infrastructure investment.

However, the letter stressed that under the current "business as usual" conditions, it is unrealistic to achieve the scale and speed of deployment required to take advantage of these benefits and achieve the net zero goal, and it will not be achieved if the whole G20 countries do not make decisive and urgent policy changes.

The open letter to the G20 leaders was also shared with some government, energy, financial and institutional leaders, including leaders of cop26, UNFCCC, Irena, IEA, IMF, WEF and some multilateral development banks.