Environment and Climate in a Renewables-Based Economy
The transition towards a Renewables-Based Economy (RBE) extends beyond replacing fossil fuels with cleaner technologies. Expanding renewable energy can help address interconnected environmental challenges, including climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting healthier, more resilient ecosystems and societies.
The scale of the challenge remains significant. Since 2010, the share of modern renewables in final energy consumption has increased by around 70%, yet global CO₂ emissions have risen approximately 15%. Growth in solar energy and wind energy must therefore increasingly displace fossil fuel consumption across the energy system.
Environmental performance also extends beyond emissions. Renewable technologies and energy storage require materials including aluminium, copper, lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements, making circularity increasingly important. Responsible siting, environmental assessment, biodiversity protection, land use, recycling, and sustainable resource management must therefore accompany faster renewable-energy deployment.
In this article, we examine the Environment and Climate dimension of the REN21 Renewables-Based Economy Tracker 2026 through four areas: Renewables in National Climate Plans, Energy-Related Emissions, Circularity, and Renewable Energy Siting, Permitting and Sustainability Requirements, assessing how renewable expansion interacts with climate and environmental sustainability.
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| Renewable energy connects climate action, emissions reduction, circularity and responsible project development in a renewables-based economy. |
1. Renewables in National Climate Plans
National climate plans increasingly recognise renewable energy as a cross-sectoral tool for both climate mitigation and adaptation. Beyond reducing greenhouse gas emissions, renewables are being connected with agriculture, transport, healthcare, resilience, and other sectors, showing how energy policy is becoming more closely integrated with broader national climate strategies.
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Renewables are now embedded in most national climate plans: By the end of 2025, 99% of submitted Third Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) included measures addressing Sustainable Development Goal 7. As of March 2026, around 90% of the 109 Third NDCs and 85 National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) specifically referred to renewable energy.
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Agriculture has the strongest connection with renewables in climate planning: Agriculture accounted for 31.1% of renewable-energy sectoral co-mentions in NDCs and 41.4% in NAPs. Solar irrigation and renewable-powered farming illustrate how clean energy can support both emissions reduction and climate resilience in vulnerable food and agricultural systems.
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Transport and healthcare are also becoming important renewable-energy priorities: Transport represented 28.1% of renewable sectoral co-occurrences in NDCs, including 8 transport-specific renewable energy targets. In NAPs, healthcare was the second-most common sector paired with renewables, representing 18.2% of sectoral co-occurrences.
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Climate and renewable-energy policies still show important alignment gaps: Despite agriculture being the sector most frequently linked with renewables in climate plans, only 31 national renewable energy policies for agriculture were in place by early 2026. This gap shows that recognition within climate strategies does not necessarily translate into dedicated implementation policies.
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| National climate planning increasingly integrates renewable energy across mitigation, adaptation, agriculture and transport. |
2. Energy-Related Emissions
Expanding renewable energy is essential for reducing energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, but deployment alone does not guarantee that global emissions will fall. The key question is whether renewable generation grows fast enough to meet rising energy demand while directly replacing fossil fuel consumption across power, heat, transport, and other end-use sectors.
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Renewable growth has not yet reversed the global emissions trend: Since 2010, the share of modern renewables in total final energy consumption has increased by around 70%, while global CO₂ emissions have risen by approximately 15%. This divergence shows that renewable expansion is still occurring alongside continued fossil fuel consumption and growing overall energy demand.
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China demonstrated how renewable growth can reduce power-sector emissions: China's power-sector CO₂ emissions fell by 1.5% in 2025, driven by renewable-energy growth rather than weak electricity demand. During the same year, solar output increased by 43% and wind generation by 14%, helping renewable generation displace fossil-based electricity.
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India also recorded declining power-sector emissions alongside record renewable additions: Power-sector emissions declined by 3.8% in 2025, supported by lower coal-fired generation and record renewable deployment. India added approximately 38 GW of solar capacity and 6.3 GW of wind capacity during the year.
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System-wide fossil fuel displacement remains the critical challenge: Despite approximately 70% growth in the share of modern renewables since 2010, global CO₂ emissions remained around 15% above their 2010 level. Achieving sustained emissions reductions therefore requires renewables to increasingly replace fossil fuels rather than mainly supplying additional growth in global energy demand.
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| Renewable growth is beginning to displace fossil generation, while global emissions trends show that much faster system-wide decarbonisation is still required. |
3. Circularity
Renewable energy technologies reduce dependence on continuously extracted and combusted fuels, but their expansion requires substantial quantities of materials. Applying circularity principles through reuse, repurposing, recycling, and responsible end-of-life management can reduce raw-material demand, strengthen supply chains, and retain more economic value within a renewables-based economy.
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Recycling performance varies sharply between established and emerging materials: Across all sectors, end-of-life recycling rates reach approximately 75% for aluminium and 40% for copper, supported by established recycling industries. By comparison, cobalt reaches around 32%, while lithium and rare earth elements remain extremely low at approximately 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively.
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Newer renewable-energy materials face significant circularity challenges: While around 75% of aluminium is recycled at end of life, only about 0.5% of lithium and 0.2% of rare earth elements are currently recycled. One reason is that much of today's renewable-energy infrastructure has not yet reached the end of its operational life.
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Recycling can remain economically disadvantaged compared with disposal: REN21 highlights the United States solar PV market, where recycling panels can currently cost more than landfilling them or recovering their bulk materials. This economic barrier is particularly important as solar deployment expands, reinforcing the need for policies that improve the competitiveness of end-of-life recovery.
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Governments are beginning to strengthen circularity policy frameworks: An International Energy Agency study covering 22 countries found that measures introduced during 2022–2024 included recycling targets, extended producer responsibility, financial incentives, minimum recycled-content requirements, collection obligations, landfill bans, and regulations governing cross-border movements of scrap and waste.
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| Circularity recovers valuable materials from renewable technologies through reuse, repurposing and recycling, reducing demand for new resources. |
4. Renewable Energy Siting, Permitting and Sustainability Requirements
Accelerating renewable energy deployment requires permitting systems that enable projects to move forward efficiently while protecting land, biodiversity, ecosystems, and local communities. Siting and sustainability requirements therefore play an important role in balancing faster renewable development with environmental protection and responsible use of natural and social resources.
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Renewable siting and permitting are governed across a large international policy base: REN21 analysed a sample of 199 policies across 132 countries covering renewable energy siting, permitting, and environmental requirements. Much of this regulation originates from broader environmental and infrastructure legislation rather than policies designed specifically for renewable energy technologies.
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Environmental impact assessment remains a central permitting mechanism: Within the 132-country policy sample, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) are a primary tool for evaluating potential project impacts and informing approval decisions. These frameworks help assess how renewable development may interact with land, water, biodiversity, ecosystems, and surrounding communities.
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Renewable-specific sustainability requirements have expanded alongside technology deployment: Across the 199-policy sample, requirements include biodiversity protection areas, restrictions on bioenergy feedstocks, agricultural land-use guidance for agrivoltaics, minimum distances between wind turbines and dwellings, and mandatory consultation with local communities.
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Permitting policies are increasingly balancing deployment speed with environmental protection: REN21's policy database tracks developments from 1965 to 2025, showing the evolution from broader environmental protection laws towards renewable-specific environmental requirements and policies designed to streamline permitting through measures such as acceleration areas and simplified procedures.
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| Responsible renewable development combines site assessment, environmental impact assessment, community consultation and permitting with sustainable project implementation. |
Related Articles
- Renewables-Based Economy (RBE) - 2026: Energy Systems and Energy Security
- Renewables-Based Economy (RBE) - 2026: Economy
- Renewables-Based Economy (RBE) - 2026: Society and Governance
Summary
The Environment and Climate dimension of a Renewables-Based Economy shows both substantial progress and important remaining gaps. Around 90% of 109 Third NDCs and 85 NAPs refer to renewable energy, yet since 2010 modern renewables have grown by around 70% while global CO₂ emissions have still increased by approximately 15%. Circularity also remains uneven, with recycling rates ranging from about 75% for aluminium to only 0.5% for lithium and 0.2% for rare earth elements.
Building a sustainable renewables-based economy therefore requires more than accelerating renewable capacity. Renewable deployment must increasingly displace fossil fuels, improve material circularity, protect biodiversity, and integrate responsible siting and permitting. REN21's analysis of 199 policies across 132 countries demonstrates the growing importance of regulatory frameworks that combine faster renewable development with environmental and sustainability requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: How does renewable energy support climate and environmental goals?
A1: Renewable energy can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants while supporting climate mitigation, adaptation, human health, and biodiversity protection. However, its full environmental benefit depends on how effectively renewable technologies replace fossil fuels and how responsibly projects, materials, and infrastructure are managed throughout their life cycles.
Q2: How widely is renewable energy included in national climate plans?
A2: Renewable energy is now strongly represented in national climate planning. By March 2026, around 90% of the 109 submitted Third NDCs and 85 National Adaptation Plans specifically referred to renewable energy, while 99% of Third NDCs submitted by the end of 2025 included measures addressing Sustainable Development Goal 7.
Q3: Why are global CO₂ emissions still rising despite rapid renewable energy growth?
A3: Since 2010, the share of modern renewables in total final energy consumption has increased by around 70%, but global CO₂ emissions have also risen by approximately 15%. Renewable growth has therefore not yet displaced fossil fuels fast enough to overcome rising energy demand and continued fossil fuel consumption.
Q4: Why is circularity important for renewable energy technologies?
A4: Renewable technologies require materials such as aluminium, copper, cobalt, lithium, and rare earth elements. Recycling performance varies widely, from around 75% for aluminium and 40% for copper to only about 0.5% for lithium and 0.2% for rare earth elements, highlighting the need for stronger reuse, recycling, and end-of-life policies.
Q5: How are renewable energy siting and permitting being regulated?
A5: Renewable projects are increasingly governed through environmental assessments, biodiversity safeguards, land-use rules, community consultation, and permitting reforms. REN21 analysed a sample of 199 policies across 132 countries, showing how governments are balancing faster renewable deployment with environmental protection and sustainability requirements.