Public and private sector leaders are being urged to double yearly investments in renewable energy to keep the world well below the 2 °C increase in global temperatures, says a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena).

The report was published ahead of the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York.

With just 11 years left for action to limit the effects of climate change, yearly investments of $4.3-trillion in the energy sector until 2030 is the world’s most practical and readily available climate solution, says Irena.

Renewable energy investments for the next decade need to double from about $330-billion a year to nearly $750-billion a year until 2030, it suggests.

The findings form part of a new climate investment report by Irena that highlights how cumulative global energy investments must pivot overwhelmingly towards low-carbon technologies, including renewables.

More than $18.6-trillion of planned fossil-fuel investments by 2050 need to be redirected to hold the line called for by the Paris Agreement and reaffirmed by the recent special report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Despite the urgency, current investment patterns show a mismatch with the pathway necessary to ensure a climate-safe future, Irena laments in a statement issued on Monday.

Together, renewable energy and energy efficiency, along with deeper electrification, can deliver 90% of the energy-related emission cuts needed under the Paris Agreement, the agency notes.

“It’s possible to limit climate change and meet the world’s growing energy demand by rapidly accelerating the speed at which we deploy renewable energy," says Irena director-general Francesco La Camera.

La Camera adds that only an energy transformation driven by renewables will allow the world to meet the goals of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement, highlighting that renewables are the only ready and available instrument the world has to hold the 1.5 °C line over the next 11 years.

"In meeting climate goals, we can also boost economic growth and deliver on sustainable development with renewables,” La Camera continues, but warns that there is an urgent need to rethink long-term energy investment decisions to ensure they lead the world to the sustainable future it needs.

Doubling investments in renewables offers the world a “tremendous opportunity” to improve health, create jobs, deliver economic opportunity and tackle climate change, La Camera avers.

According to Irena, transforming the energy system with renewables offers a more cost-effective path than climate inaction. With every invested dollar in the energy transition, it will offer returns of up to three to seven times in improved human health, lower climate related expenditure and reduced subsidies, it points out.

However, accelerating renewable energy deployment requires policies that create an enabling environment to unlock investment and encourage economic development, the new report concludes.

In this respect, Irena intends on working closer to the ground, facilitating projects and assisting countries in building attractive investment frameworks for renewables.

The agency says it will also enhance cooperation with the private sector, international financial institutions and multilateral organisations.

In support of the UN Secretary General’s call for decisive climate action, Irena has launched a campaign that underpins renewable energy as a practical climate action solution.

In cooperation with the UN Development Programme, the agency’s “Lead the change, it’s possible with renewables” campaign aims to inform about the potential of renewable energy technologies and in turn encourage concrete climate action.