Philippines supports global renewables pledge at COP28

Philippines supports global renewables pledge at COP28

The Philippines has signed a pledge to triple the world's renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency during the COP28 climate talks in Dubai, the Department of Energy said Thursday. The Philippines is among the over 120 countries supporting the European Union-led Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge. The energy department said the move is aligned with the government's target of increasing the share of renewables in the country's generation mix to 30% by 2030 and to 50% by 2040. It added that the pledge is in line with the Philippines' goal of reducing electricity and oil consumption by 10% by 2050. Abandoning coal, oil and gas for cleaner energies such as solar, wind and hydroelectric is essential if the world is to meet the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoiding the most catastrophic impacts of climate change. 'We are united by our common belief that to respect the 1.5°C goal in the Paris Agreement, we need to phase out fossil fuels. We do that by fast-tracking the clean energy transition, by tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency,' European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. The first week of negotiations at COP28 ended Wednesday