iea economics essay competition 2023

Stiglitz Essay Prize Award 2023

The International Economic Association is pleased to announce the winners of the Stiglitz Essay Prize 2023. This prize is possible thanks to the generous donation that the Economic Society of Australia pledged to the IEA. The 1st Prize in the graduate category was awarded to Can Soylu   (Brown University). The first prize in the undergraduate category was awarded to  Matan Goldman  and  Hila Perl  (Bar-Ilan University) while the 2nd prize was awarded to  Bilal Moin  (Yale University)

Matan Goldman Hila Perl

Bilal Moin 

Stiglitz Essay Prize 2020

Nicolas De Laubier-Longuet Marx

1st Prize Graduate Category

Daksh Walia

1st Prize Undergraduate Category

Ahmed Abdul Mumin

2nd Prize Graduate Category

Pradnyee Kantak

2nd Prize Undergraduate Category

Wannaphong Durongkaveroj

3rd Prize Graduate category

Stiglitz Essay Prize Award 2017

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Economic Association (IEA) are pleased to announce thethree (3) best papers for the 2024 ADB–IEA Innovative Policy Research Award. The award-winning papers were selected from over 150 papers covering a wide range of economic topics. Each award-winning paper will receive a $7,000 grant financed by ADB. The prize will be formally awarded at the ADB-IEA award session of the 2024 ADB Annual Meeting in May 2024. To acknowledge research excellence, the announcement also includes honorable mentions of seven (7) high-quality papers.

Three Award-Winning Papers:

Building Resilient Education Systems: Evidence from Large-Scale Randomized Trials in Five Countries   by Noam Angrist (University Of Oxford & Youth Impact); Micheal Ainomugisha (Building Tomorrow); Claire Cullen (University Of Oxford & Youth Impact); Rene Marlon Panti (Innovations for Poverty Action);  Shwetlena Sabarwal, (World Bank); Tim Sullivan (NewGlobe); Sai Pramod Bathena (Alokit); Peter Bergman (The University of Texas at Austin); Colin Crossley (Youth Impact); Thato Letsomo (Youth Impact); and Moitshepi Matsheng (Youth Impact)

School Attendance Information or Conditional Cash Transfer? Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment in Rural Bangladesh   by Abu Shonchoy (Florida International University); Tomoki Fujii (Singapore Management University); Christine Ho (Singapore Management University); and Rohan Ray (National University of Singapore)

Public WASH Programs, Long-Run Child Development, and Intergenerational Mobility: New Evidence from Rural China   by Dongqin Wang (The Chinese University of Hong Kong); and Eddy (Weijian) Zou (London School of Economics and Institute for Fiscal Studies)

Honorable Mentions:

Global Gains from a Green Energy Transition: Evidence on Coal-Fired Power and Air Quality Dissatisfaction   by Azhar Hussain (London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)); and Timothy Besley (LSE)

The Double-Edged Sword:  Unintended Consequences of SME Promotion Policy   by Athiphat Muthitacharoen (Chulalongkorn University);  Archawa Paweenawat (Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research (PIER)); and  Krislert Samphantharak (University of California San Diego and PIER)

Access to Information, Technology Adoption and Productivity: Large-Scale Evidence from Agriculture in India   by Apoorv Gupta (Dartmouth College); Jacopo Ponticelli (Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management, NBER & CEPR); and Andrea Tesei (Queen Mary University of London, CEPR, CEP (LSE) & CESifo)

Sacrifice for the Greater Good: Welfare and Distributional Impacts of Flood Detention Basins in China   by Yuxiao Hu (LSE); Runhong Ma (LSE); and Yifan Wang (LSE)

Early Childhood Human Capital Formation at Scale   by Saravana Ravindran (Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore); Johannes M. Bos (American Institutes for Research (AIR)); Abu S. Shonchoy (Florida International University); Akib Khan (Uppsala University)

Long-term Impacts of Growth and Development Monitoring: Evidence from Routine Health Examinations in Early Childhood   by Meiping (Aggie) Sun (Fordham University); Yinhe Liang, (Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE)); and Xiaobo Peng (CUFE)

The long-term impact of in-utero exposure to natural disasters: Evidence from the 2010 Pakistan flood   by Saqib Hussain (KDI School of Public Policy and Management); Rida Ali Khan (KDI School of Public Policy and Management)

ADB-IEA Innovative Policy Research Award

Call for papers The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Economic Association (IEA) are pleased to announce the three (3) best papers for the 2023 ADB–IEA Innovative Policy Research Award. The award-winning papers were selected from over 100 papers covering a wide range of economic topics. Each award-winning paper will receive a $7,000 grant financed by ADB. The prize will be formally awarded at the ADB-IEA award session of the 2023 ADB Annual Meeting in May 2023. To acknowledge research excellence, the announcement also includes honorable mentions of seven (7) high-quality papers.

ADB-IEA Innovative Research Award

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the   International Economic Association (IEA)   are pleased to announce the three (3) best papers for the 2022 ADB–IEA Innovative Policy Research Award. The award-winning papers were selected from over 250 papers covering a wide range of economic topics. Each award-winning paper will receive a $7,000 grant financed by ADB.

Award session 2022

Shuguang Jiang

Amartya Sen Prize Winner

Kenneth Mahuni

20th World Congress

International economic association.

Plenary “Caught at a crossroads: can the world economy avoid a turn for the worse?"

Speaker: Gita Gopinath (IMF) Chair: Dani Rodrik (Harvard University)

Plenary “The Persistence Paradox: Critical Junctures and Our Shared Future”

Speaker: Nathan Nunn (UBC) Chair: Silvana Tenreyro (London School of Economics)

Plenary “Asia’s New Growth Trajectory: Navigating an International Economic Landscape Fractured by Great Power Rivalry”

Speaker: Danny Quah (National University of Singapore) Chair: Wendy Carlin (University College London, CEPR and Santa Fe Institute)

Plenary “A New Global Economic Order”

Speakers: Justin Yifu Lin (Peking University), Jayati Ghosh (UMass Amherst), Jose Antonio Ocampo (Columbia University), Lili Yan Ing (ERIA ) Chair: Dani Rodrik (Harvard University)

Plenary “Enhancing Women’s Leadership in Economics: A new IEA initiative”

Speakers: María Inés Berniell (Universidad Nacional de la
 Plata and CEDLAS), Ashwini Deshpande (Ashoka University), Raquel Fernández (NYU) Chair: Dani Rodrik (Harvard University)

Plenary “Presidential Address”

Speaker: Dani Rodrik (Harvard University) Chair: Elhanan Helpman (Harvard University)

Plenary “Infrastructure and corruption: New evidence and new policies from Latin America”

Speaker: Eduardo Engel (University of Chile) Chair: Raquel Fernández (NYU)

Plenary “Economics, Experimentation and Innovation”

Speaker: Michael Kremer (University of Chicago) Chair: Pol Antras (Harvard University)

Plenary “Trade and Development”

Speaker: David Atkin (MIT) Chair: Lili Yan Ing (ERIA)

Plenary “The Recent Rise of Populism and the Future of Democracy”

Speaker: Sergei Guriev (Sciences Po) Chair: Kaushik Basu (Cornell University)

Plenary “Businesses, Development and Jobs in Latin America"

Speaker: Marcela Eslava (Universidad de los Andes) Chair: Omar Licandro (University of Leicester)

The International Economic Association (IEA) and Universidad EAFIT Colombia are pleased to announce the 20th World Congress of IEA to be held in Medellin, Colombia between 11 and 15 December 2023. The congress is jointly organized by IEA and Universidad EAFIT, Colombia, with Universidad EAFIT being the local host.

The International Economic Association (IEA) is the association of the economic associations from around the world, and is the unique international organization that brings together economists from developed and developing countries across a broad range of fields.

The Congress will feature research presentations by leading economists from across the globe. More than 500 economists from all over the world are expected to attend and over 400 papers will be presented in stand-alone and parallel academic sessions.

There will also be a number of policy sessions and keynote lectures, with participants from governments and the corporate world. Submissions for papers and proposals will open on 1 November 2022 and details will be announced on 10 October 2022. The main theme of the Congress will be “World Economy at a Turning Point? Conflict, Fragmentation, and Divergence.”

Cesar E. Tamayo , Dean, School of Finance, Economics and Government, Universidad EAFIT Dani Rodrik , Harvard University, President of International Economic Association Elhanan Helpman , Harvard University, President-elect of International Economic Association

Registration

About Colombia

Colombia offers unique and authentic travel experiences, magical and unforgettable experiences, tourists from all over the world are beginning to discover Colombia in its fullness, Colombia is well connected to the international community with over 900 flights per week, impressive mountains, beautiful villages, walls, castles, colonial squares and places inspired by flowers are transformed into perfect settings full of magic realism.

Submissions for Equilibrium are now open! The Semester 2 regular deadline is April 17th, 2024.

Harker Oeconomia

Harvard international economics essay competition, description.

The 2023 Harvard International Economics Essay Contest is sponsored by the Harvard Undergraduate Economics Association (HUEA) in conjunction with the Harvard College Economics Review (HCER). This essay competition is open to high school students of any year and is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate an accomplished level of writing and understanding of economic theory. Through the contest, student competitors hone their academic and professional skills and exhibit their knowledge to future employers and academic programs.  Competitors must construct a convincing argument using economic theory and real-world examples.  Winning essays will be published in the Harvard Economics Review and will be available for the greater Harvard community to read. Essays should focus on argumentation supported with facts and references, although data-based support is also welcome.

Department of Economics

First year economics student wins the iea's monetary policy essay prize 2022.

We are very proud to announce that for the second time running, Warwick Economics student is the winner of the Monetary Policy Essay 2022 competition organised by the Institute of Economics Affairs (IEA) and the Institute of International Monetary Research (IIMR).

Guillermo Sagnier, first year BSc Economics student, took the top prize in the IEA and the IIMR essay competition 2022 which was launched in October 2021 with two questions: "Does inflation matter? And will the current inflation upturn be transitory or not?" The submissions were judged on their presentation, command of theory, the relevance of the questions and persuasiveness of the argument.

The Monetary Policy Essay Final took place in-person at the Vinson Centre (Buckingham) on 3 March 2022. Guillermo Sagnier took the first prize of £500, Irakli Imnaishvili and Aislin Rees tied in second place.

This is the second time that Warwick Economics student got the top prize in this competition. Last year the winner was Warwick Economics final year student Gustaf Dillner (BSc Economics, Politics and International Studies).

Guillermo only joined Warwick in September 2021 on the three year BSc Economics programme. He is Spanish and, for three years, he lived in Chile, which sparked his interest in economics.

We congratulate Guillermo on this fantastic achievement in his first year and wish him further successes.

We wanted to find out more about his studies here and what this achievement means to him and here is what he told us:

What made you enter this competition?

Being passionate about macroeconomics and understanding the world around us, I was curious to analyse why western economies had experienced significantly above-target inflation rates in 2021, whilst Asia had not witnessed such surge. Given supply chain disruptions and bottlenecks have affected globally, what explains such difference? When researching recent monetary trends and finding this essay competition, I decided to dive into the question.

Briefly describe the content of your essay and the arguments you used

I claimed the current inflation upturn in Europe and North America is a result of the extraordinary growth in broad money supply, caused by QE, ultra-low interest rates and the partial monetisation of fiscal deficits. The creation of excess money balances, mainly across financial institutions, has translated to a rise in asset prices (equities and real estate) and subsequently strong recovery of aggregate demand. Over time, this has led to a rapid increase in the price of goods and services, which will persist beyond 2022 (given still-high money supply growth rates and likely gains in the velocity of money) and further squeeze real incomes.

Tell us about the prize ceremony you attended?

The top ten entries from around 200 submissions were invited to the final at the Vinson Centre in Buckingham. The essay competition was open to all undergraduate and sixth form students and, remarkably, the second and third prizes were given to outstanding high school pupils. The session involved a ten-minute presentation in front of a panel of experts in monetary economics, followed by a five-minute Q&A of broad questions. It was great practice for my upcoming macroeconomics test!

What was your prize and how are you going to spend it?

I was awarded £500 and summer internships at the Institute of Economic Affairs and at the Institute of International Monetary Research. I will certainly not keep it as cash and move to inflation hedges!

What have been the highlights of your degree course at Warwick so far?

Although I am still a first-year student, my time here at Warwick has been thoroughly enjoyable. The highlights of the course would be how varied the discipline is: from economic history to statistics, you gain a wide range of skills. Campus life and societies are exceptional too and, as an international student, make up a very well-rounded experience.

What is your favourite module in Year 1 of our course?

EC108 Macroeconomics provides an overview of how national indicators such as employment, output or inflation are determined and correlate with each other. Although there are alternative models beyond mainstream economics (like the Quantity Theory of Money), the depth of the analysis and modelling has far exceeded my expectations.

What are your career plans?

I am very interested in monetary policy and would look forward to engaging with forecasting and central bank policymaking in the future. I am also curious about finance, especially asset and wealth management.

Related links:

The Institute of Economic Affairs

The Institute of International Monetary Research

Last year essay prize winner - Gustaf Dillner (March 2021)

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LSESU Economics Society

The Essay Competition 2023

Welcome to the lsesu economics society’s essay competition 2023. we are so excited to release this year’s questions, our questions range from the impact of artificial intelligence to explaining variations in happiness. we can’t wait to read your entries, prizes range from signed certifications by nobel prize-winning economists and include £100 amazon gift cards..

Cambridge Society for Economic Pluralism 

• Jun 29, 2022

2022-23 CSEP Essay Competition is Released

Questions for 2022-23 CSEP Essay Competition is released!

Every year Cambridge Society for Economic Pluralism hosts its Essay Competition to encourage sixth form students to go beyond their curriculum and explore important questions society faces today. Our annual essay competition is open to all students starting Year 12 or 13 (or equivalent) in September 2022 (ie taking A Levels or IB or equivalents in the next two years) . We welcome essays in response to any of the 5 titles written below. When writing their essays, we strongly encourage students to consider economic ideas which are beyond the traditional, neoliberal syllabus of most economics courses and to support their arguments with real-world examples/data. Essays should be between 1000 and 2000 words in length (excluding any citations) and entries should be submitted by 23:59 UK Time (GMT+1) on September 4th, 2022. Result of the competition will be published on this page on October 2nd, 2022. Prize winner will be contacted individually regarding their prize.

For details of the competition please check our website .

For inspiration and review please check our past competition archive

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RES Young Economist of the Year 2023 Competition Guidelines

The Royal Economic Society Young Economist of the Year competition 2023 in partnership with KPMG UK aims at encouraging Year 10 – Year 13 students (in England and Wales, or equivalent in Scotland and Northern Ireland) to produce their own ideas in analysing contemporary economic problems facing the UK and the world. Students can choose from a list of topics provided on the competition website. Students do not need to be studying economics to be able to enter this competition. The RES welcomes entries from any students who are interested in economic issues and would like to share original ideas or perspectives on these issues. The RES also welcomes a diverse range of contributions and insights on the competition topics.

Eligibility

To enter, you must be:

• in Years 10 to 13 in England or Wales, Years 11 to 14 in Northern Ireland, or S3 to S6 in Scotland (or equivalent)
• studying in the UK

The competition is free to enter.

You do not need to be studying economics, and you can work on your entry or with up to 4 other students.

For independent school entries we promote mixed group entries with local state schools.

Entry format

Your entry must:

• answer only 1 of these 5 questions:
• Are the high wages for top tier sportspeople justified?
• Should there be a cap on what can be charged for gigs by ticket agents?
• What economic impact would the introduction of robots and AI have?
• What can economics tell us about how Big Tech should be regulated (if at all)?
• What are the trade-offs between economic growth and preventing climate change?
• be in written or media format. Written would be in blog format no longer than 1,000 words. Media includes video, podcast or presentation slides.
• be an individual or group entry. Groups to be 2-5 students.
• must not include any personally identifiable information. This needs to be entered on the competition website.
• must not use applications such as ChatGPT or other forms of artificial intelligence (AI)
• you must acknowledge the use of information/material from other sources. We do not require a detailed in-text referencing of your arguments, however a list of sources that you have consulted and have substantively influenced your arguments must be included at the end of your entry. If a written entry then this is not included in the word count. View the ‘How to reference’ video for more guidance.

What happens next?

Submit your entry here .

All entries must be submitted by 23.59 (BST) on 14 July 2023.

A panel will read and mark your entry before agreeing a final shortlist of 5 entries.

The 5 shortlisted entries will be announced in August 2023 ahead of an in-person final event to be held at KPMG offices in September 2023.

The in-person final will involve the 5 entries giving a 10 minute presentation followed by 5 minutes of questions from an expert panel before a winner is announced.

The winning entry will be featured in the Financial Times.

Any personal data which may be submitted in an entry will be processed by RES in accordance with any applicable data protection legislation, and RES Privacy Notice available at https://res.org.uk/resources-library/privacy-notice/

Every participant must submit an originally researched and originally written entry. You can only receive help with proofreading the final draft, where assistance should be limited to grammar or clear communication of ideas. In these cases, a note must accompany your entry citing any such assistance received. This acknowledgement note will not count toward the entry’s word limit.

All short-listed entries will be checked for plagiarism using state-of-the-art software. Plagiarism is “ the process or practice of using another person’s ideas or work and pretending that it is your own ”. For example, copying sentences word-for-word from another source will be detected by the plagiarism software and constitutes a plagiarism offence. You can find more examples of what counts as plagiarism, and tips on how to avoid plagiarism, at this website: https://www.niu.edu/academic-integrity/faculty/committing/examples/index.shtml .

Entries where substantial evidence of plagiarism is detected may be withdrawn from the competition, and t he RES reserves the right to cancel any such submission . So, please ensure that your competition entry is written in your own words . In addition, you must cite content that you use from any source (such as a website, book, or news article) to support your arguments. The next section explains how to properly acknowledge sources and avoid plagiarism.

Data, Referencing and Bibliography

When you use information/material from other sources, you must acknowledge them in your work. Although we do not require a detailed in-text referencing of your arguments for the 2022 competition, a list of sources that you have consulted and have substantively influenced your arguments must be included at the end of your entry. These references do not count toward the word limit of the entry.

You are encouraged to use data obtained from reliable data sources such as the Office of National Statistics , Federal Reserve Bank websites (e.g. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/ ), the World Bank , the OECD , and Our World in Data . You may also find data on your local authority website. You can take charts and tables directly from the source, but if so this must be acknowledged as a note to the chart/table in your entry. In general, it is preferable to use the data to make your own charts and tables. Any such data sources that you use should be listed in the references .

Guidance for writing your entry

• Who is the target audience?

Your entry should be aimed at a general interest audience (anyone who is interested in the topic you are writing about), rather than specifically at people who have studied economics.

• Advice on structuring and formatting your entry

Your entry should follow the general structure of introduction, main arguments, and conclusion. The following websites contains some non-subject-specific guidance about the possible structure and format of written work:

https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/sgc/learning/NewBrandDocs-FileStore/Filetoupload,781679,en.pdf

https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/sgc/learning/NewBrandDocs-FileStore/Filetoupload,781693,en.pdf

Your readers may not have studied economics, so it is important to explain the intuition behind the economic phenomena you are analysing. ‘Intuition’ refers to a non-technical ‘common-sense’ explanation for the observed phenomena. The first challenge for you is to think of a solid and clear economic intuition about the issue you are trying to analyse. Where appropriate, support your explanations with relevant data. (For example, you can cite some appropriate statistics, and/or include and discuss charts, images, and tables in the main body of your text.)

Make sure to structure your arguments logically. To make your arguments easy to follow, you can use the following order: motivation (why is this topic important?), assumptions (where relevant), claims (what do you think about the issue?), evidence/analysis to support your claims, and conclusion. Maintaining a clear storyline from start to end will help the judges follow your line of reasoning. Keeping the overall argument in mind can help you organise your entry.

• Planning and writing your entry

Woodrow Wilson was once asked how long it took him to write a speech. He answered, ‘That depends. If I am to speak for 10 minutes, I need a week of preparation. If 15 minutes, 3 days. If half an hour, two days. If an hour, I am ready now .’

The message is clear. Since you have only 1000 words to convey your ideas to your audience, it really helps to spend as much time as possible honing and organizing your arguments. Start early and take advantage of all the available time.

Present your arguments clearly. Choosing your words carefully is important for clear communication. For example, if you use economic terminology or refer to economic concepts, make sure you are using them in the correct context. Since your readers may not have studied economics, economic terminology should be avoided where possible and any used should be defined.

Stay within the word limit by writing concisely, using the least number of words necessary to communicate your ideas. Before submitting your entry, make sure to check your work for typos, grammatical errors, and logical fallacies.

• Additional tips

Remember, help from your peers, parents, teachers in preparing your entry must be purely nominal (limited to proofreading). Trust your instincts and take ownership of your thoughts.

Avoid using emotive and informal words such as ‘massive’, ‘chaos’, ‘crashed’, ‘tanked’, or ‘awesome’. As much as possible, avoid using less-reliable non-academic sources, such as Wikipedia or Investopedia, as references.

You can read the winning entries from recent years on the RES website at   https://res.org.uk/young-economist-of-the-year-3/ but bear in mind that the maximum length was reduced to 1,000 words last year. Also, the competition in previous years was of a more strict essay format than this year, with less encouragement for presenting original arguments.

• Final advice

Economics is a very exciting discipline that supports the wellbeing of every walk of life. It is a field that involves critical thinking and deep research focusing on the wellbeing of society. Regardless of the competition outcome, the experience of producing an entry that addresses these social issues will be your purest takeaway from this journey.

Evaluation Criteria

Your submission will be judged on the originality of your ideas and perspectives on economic issues, clarity of communication, strength and organization of your arguments, and soundness of the evidence you use (such as others’ views, or data and numbers). Make sure that your writing has a clear structure and consistent format; and that your arguments are convincing, by using supporting sources that are referenced and can be checked.

Declaration

Entrants agree that their entry is their own work, written solely for the purpose of the Competition, and warrant that their entry does not breach any applicable laws or regulations or infringe any third intellectual property or privacy rights, and is not in any way libellous, defamatory, obscene, indecent, harassing or threatening.

By entering the Competition, entrants agree to hold RES, Discover Economics and KPMG harmless for liability, damages or claims for injury or loss to any person or property, relating to, directly or indirectly, participation in this Competition, or claims based on publicity rights, third party intellectual property rights, defamation or invasion of privacy.

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Executive summary

• Global forecast summary
• Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario tracking
• Transport biofuels
• Net Zero Emissions by 2050 scenario tracking
• Special section: Biogas and biomethane

Cite report

IEA (2024), Renewables 2023 , IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/renewables-2023, Licence: CC BY 4.0

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2023 saw a step change in renewable capacity additions, driven by china’s solar pv market.

Global annual renewable capacity additions increased by almost 50% to nearly 510 gigawatts (GW) in 2023, the fastest growth rate in the past two decades. This is the 22nd year in a row that renewable capacity additions set a new record. While the increases in renewable capacity in Europe, the United States and Brazil hit all-time highs, China’s acceleration was extraordinary. In 2023, China commissioned as much solar PV as the entire world did in 2022, while its wind additions also grew by 66% year-on-year. Globally, solar PV alone accounted for three-quarters of renewable capacity additions worldwide.

Achieving the COP28 target of tripling global renewable capacity by 2030 hinges on policy implementation

Prior to the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai, the International Energy Agency (IEA) urged governments to support five pillars for action by 2030, among them the goal of tripling global renewable power capacity. Several of the IEA priorities were reflected in the Global Stocktake text agreed by the 198 governments at COP28, including the goals of tripling renewables and doubling the annual rate of energy efficiency improvements every year to 2030. Tripling global renewable capacity in the power sector from 2022 levels by 2030 would take it above 11 000 GW, in line with IEA’s Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) Scenario.

Under existing policies and market conditions, global renewable capacity is forecast to reach 7 300 GW by 2028. This growth trajectory would see global capacity increase to 2.5 times its current level by 2030, falling short of the tripling goal. Governments can close the gap to reach over 11 000 GW by 2030 by overcoming current challenges and implementing existing policies more quickly. These challenges fall into four main categories and differ by country: 1) policy uncertainties and delayed policy responses to the new macroeconomic environment; 2) insufficient investment in grid infrastructure preventing faster expansion of renewables; 3) cumbersome administrative barriers and permitting procedures and social acceptance issues; 4) insufficient financing in emerging and developing economies. This report’s accelerated case shows that addressing those challenges can lead to almost 21% higher growth of renewables, pushing the world towards being on track to meet the global tripling pledge. 

Cumulative renewable electricity capacity in the main and accelerated cases and Net Zero Scenario

What is needed to reach the collective target to triple renewables by 2030 varies significantly by country and region. G20 countries account for almost 90% of global renewable power capacity today. In the accelerated case, which assumes enhanced implementation of existing policies and targets, the G20 could triple their collective installed capacity by 2030. As such, they have the potential to contribute significantly to tripling renewables globally. However, to achieve the global goal, the rate of new installations needs to accelerate in other countries, too, including many emerging and developing economies outside the G20, some of which do not have renewable targets and/or supportive policies today. 

The global power mix will be transformed by 2028

The world is on course to add more renewable capacity in the next five years than has been installed since the first commercial renewable energy power plant was built more than 100 years ago. In the main case forecast in this report, almost 3 700 GW of new renewable capacity comes online over the 2023‑2028 period, driven by supportive policies in more than 130 countries. Solar PV and wind will account for 95% of global renewable expansion, benefiting from lower generation costs than both fossil and non‑fossil fuel alternatives.

Over the coming five years, several renewable energy milestones are expected to be achieved:

• In 2024, wind and solar PV together generate more electricity than hydropower.
• In 2025, renewables surpass coal to become the largest source of electricity generation.
• Wind and solar PV each surpass nuclear electricity generation in 2025 and 2026 respectively.
• In 2028, renewable energy sources account for over 42% of global electricity generation, with the share of wind and solar PV doubling to 25%. 

Share of renewable electricity generation by technology, 2000-2028

China is the world’s renewables powerhouse.

China accounts for almost 60% of new renewable capacity expected to become operational globally by 2028. Despite the phasing out of national subsidies in 2020 and 2021, deployment of onshore wind and solar PV in China is accelerating, driven by the technologies’ economic attractiveness as well as supportive policy environments providing long-term contracts. Our forecast shows that China is expected to reach its national 2030 target for wind and solar PV installations this year, six years ahead of schedule. China’s role is critical in reaching the global goal of tripling renewables because the country is expected to install more than half of the new capacity required globally by 2030. At the end of the forecast period, almost half of China’s electricity generation will come from renewable energy sources. 

Renewable electricity capacity growth in China, main case, 2005-2028

Renewable electricity capacity growth by country or region, main case, 2005-2028, the us, the eu, india and brazil remain bright spots for onshore wind and solar pv growth.

Solar PV and onshore wind additions through 2028 is expected to more than double in the United States, the European Union, India and Brazil compared with the last five years. Supportive policy environments and the improving economic attractiveness of solar PV and onshore wind are the primary drivers behind this acceleration. In the European Union and Brazil, growth in rooftop solar PV is expected to outpace large-scale plants as residential and commercial consumers seek to reduce their electricity bills amid higher prices. In the United States, the Inflation Reduction Act has acted as a catalyst for accelerated additions despite supply chain issues and trade concerns in the near term. In India, an expedited auction schedule for utility-scale onshore wind and solar PV along with improved financial health of distribution companies is expected to deliver accelerated growth.

Renewable energy expansion also starts accelerating in other regions of the world, notably the Middle East and North Africa, owing mostly to policy incentives that take advantage of the cost-competitiveness of solar PV and onshore wind power. Although renewable capacity growth picks up in sub‑Saharan Africa, the region still underperforms considering its resource potential and electrification needs.

Solar PV prices plummet amid growing supply glut

In 2023, spot prices for solar PV modules declined by almost 50% year-on-year, with manufacturing capacity reaching three times 2021 levels. The current manufacturing capacity under construction indicates that the global supply of solar PV will reach 1 100 GW at the end of 2024, with potential output expected to be three times the current forecast for demand. Despite unprecedented PV manufacturing expansion in the United States and India driven by policy support, China is expected to maintain its 80‑95% share of global supply chains (depending on the manufacturing segment). Although developing domestic PV manufacturing will increase the security of supply and bring economic benefits to local communities, replacing imports with more expensive production in the United States, India and the European Union will increase the cost of overall PV deployment in these markets. 

Onshore wind and solar PV are cheaper than both new and existing fossil fuel plants

In 2023, an estimated 96% of newly installed, utility-scale solar PV and onshore wind capacity had lower generation costs than new coal and natural gas plants. In addition, three-quarters of new wind and solar PV plants offered cheaper power than existing fossil fuel facilities. Wind and solar PV systems will become more cost-competitive during the forecast period. Despite the increasing contribution needs for flexibility and reliability to integrate variable renewables, the overall competitiveness of onshore wind and solar PV changes only slightly by 2028 in Europe, China, India and the United States. 

The new macroeconomic environment presents further challenges that policy makers need to address

In 2023, new renewable energy capacity financed in advanced economies was exposed to higher base interest rates than in China and the global average for the first time. Since 2022, central bank base interest rates have increased from below 1% to almost 5%. In emerging and developing economies, renewables developers have been exposed to higher interest rates since 2021, resulting in higher costs hampering faster expansion of renewables.

The implications of this new macroeconomic environment are manifold for both governments and industry. First, inflation has increased equipment costs for onshore and offshore wind and partly for solar PV (excluding module costs). Second, higher interest rates are increasing the financing costs of capital-intensive variable renewable technologies. Third, policy has been relatively slow to adjust to the new macroeconomic environment due in part to expectations that cost reductions would continue together with permitting challenges. This has left several auctions in advanced economies undersubscribed, particularly in Europe. Additionally, some developers whose power purchase contracts were signed prior to these macroeconomic changes have had to cancel their projects. Efforts to improve auction design and contract indexation methodologies are needed to resolve these challenges and unlock additional wind and solar PV deployment.

The renewable energy industry, particularly wind, is grappling with macroeconomic challenges affecting its financial health – despite a history of financial resilience. The wind industry has experienced a significant decline in market value as European and North American wind turbine manufacturers have seen negative net margins for seven consecutive quarters due to volatile demand, limited raw material access, economic challenges, and rising interest rates. To address these issues, the European Union launched a Wind Power Action Plan in October 2023, aiming to enhance competitiveness, improve auction design, boost clean technology investment, streamline permitting, and ensure fair competition. Chinese wind turbine manufacturers, benefiting from strong domestic demand and vertical integration, remain relatively stable amid global challenges.

Weighted average net margins of renewable energy companies, large utilities and oil majors, Q1-Q4 2022 and Q1-Q3 2023

The forecast for wind capacity additions is less optimistic outside china, especially for offshore.

The wind industry, especially in Europe and North America is facing challenges due to a combination of ongoing supply chain disruptions, higher costs and long permitting timelines. As a result of these challenges, the forecast for onshore wind outside of China has been revised downwards as overall project development has been slower than expected.

Offshore wind has been hit hardest by the new macroeconomic environment, with its expansion through 2028 revised down by 15% outside China. The challenges facing the industry particularly affect offshore wind, with investment costs today more than 20% higher than only a few years ago. In 2023, developers have cancelled or postponed 15 GW of offshore wind projects in the United States and the United Kingdom. For some developers, pricing for previously awarded capacity does not reflect the increased costs facing project development today, which reduces project bankability. 

Faster deployment of variable renewables increases integration and infrastructure challenges

The share of solar PV and wind in global electricity generation is forecast to double to 25% in 2028 in our main case. This rapid expansion in the next five years will have implications for power systems worldwide. In the European Union, annual variable renewables penetration in 2028 is expected to reach more than 50% in seven countries, with Denmark having around 90% of wind and solar PV in its electricity system by that time. Although European Union interconnections help integrate solar PV and wind generation, grid bottlenecks will pose significant challenges and lead to increased curtailment in many countries as grid expansion cannot keep pace with accelerated installation of variable renewables. 

Current hydrogen plans and implementation don’t match

Renewable power capacity dedicated to hydrogen-based fuel production is forecast to grow by 45 GW between 2023 and 2028, representing only an estimated 7% of announced project capacity for the period. China, Saudi Arabia and the United States account for more than 75% of renewable capacity for hydrogen production by 2028. Despite announcements of new projects and pipelines, the progress in planned projects has been slow. We have revised down our forecasts for all regions except China. The main reason is the slow pace of bringing planned projects to final investment decisions due to a lack of off‑takers and the impact of higher prices on production costs. The development of an international hydrogen market is a key uncertainty affecting the forecast, particularly for markets that have limited domestic demand for hydrogen.

Biofuel deployment is accelerating and diversifying more into renewable diesel and biojet fuel

Emerging economies, led by Brazil, dominate global biofuel expansion, which is set to grow 30% faster than over the last five years. Supported by robust biofuel policies, increasing transport fuel demand and abundant feedstock potential, emerging economies are forecast to drive 70% of global biofuel demand growth over the forecast period. Brazil alone accounts for 40% of biofuel expansion to 2028. Stronger policies are the primary driver of this growth as governments expand efforts to provide affordable, secure and low-emission energy supplies. Biofuels used in the road transport sector remain the primary source of new supply, accounting for nearly 90% of the expansion. 

Five-year biofuel demand growth for advanced and emerging economies, main case, 2011-2028

Electric vehicles (EVs) and biofuels are proving to be a powerful complementary combination for reducing oil demand . Globally, biofuels and renewable electricity used in EVs are forecast to offset 4 million barrels of oil‑equivalent per day by 2028, which is more than 7% of forecast oil demand for transport. Biofuels remain the dominant pathway for avoiding oil demand in the diesel and jet fuel segments. EVs outpace biofuels in the gasoline segment, especially in the United States, Europe and China.

Aligning biofuels with a net zero pathway requires a huge increase in the pace of deployment

This report’s main case forecast is not in line with the near tripling of biofuels demand by 2030 seen in the IEA’s Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) Scenario. In the aviation sector for instance, the Net Zero Scenario would require 8% of fuel supply coming from biojet fuel by 2030, while existing policies in this forecast will only bring biojet fuel’s share to 1% by 2028. Bridging this gap requires new and stronger policies, as well as diversification of feedstocks.

Much faster biofuel deployment is possible through new policies and addressing supply chain challenges. In this report’s accelerated case, biofuel supply growth is nearly triple that of the main case, closing the gap with the Net Zero Scenario by nearly 40%. Nearly half of this additional growth, almost 30 billion litres, is driven by strengthened policies in existing markets such as the United States, Europe and India. Another 20 billion litres comes mainly from biodiesel in India and ethanol in Indonesia. Biojet fuel offers a third growth avenue, expanding to cover nearly 3.5% of global aviation fuels, up from 1% in the main case. Fuels made from waste and residues also grow four times faster in the accelerated case. 

Renewable heat accelerates amid high energy prices and policy momentum – but not enough to curb emissions

Modern renewable heat consumption expands by 40% globally during the outlook period, rising from 13% to 17% of total heat consumption. These developments come predominantly from the growing reliance on electricity for process heat – notably with the adoption of heat pumps in non‑energy‑intensive industries – and the deployment of electric heat pumps and boilers in buildings, increasingly powered by renewable electricity. China, the European Union and the United States lead these trends, owing to supportive policy environments; updated targets in the European Union and China; strong financial incentives in many markets; the adoption of renewable heat obligations; and fossil fuel bans in the buildings sector.

However, the trends to 2028 are still largely insufficient to tackle the use of fossil fuels for heat and put the world on track to meet Paris Agreement goals. Without stronger policy action, the global heat sector alone between 2023 and 2028 could consume more than one‑fifth of the remaining carbon budget for a pathway aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Global renewable heat consumption would have to rise 2.2 times as quickly and be combined with wide-scale demand-side measures and much larger energy and material efficiency improvements to align with the NZE Scenario.

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