Delivering on renewable energy around the world: how do key countries stack up?
In 2002, countries met in Johannesburg, South Africa for the 10th anniversary of the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the Johannesburg Earth Summit, countries committed to: “…substantially increase the global share of renewable energy sources with the objective of increasing its contribution to total energy supply…” Since that time, renewable energy deployment and investment have increased, but work remains. At the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit—Earth Summit 2012, scheduled for this June—countries, companies, cities, and individuals need to commit to increasing the amount of wind, solar, geothermal, tidal, and wave power throughout the world, to 15 percent of total electricity by 2020—more than doubling what is predicted under current trends.