This report presents the status of renewable energy employment, both by technology and in selected countries, over the past year. In this fourth edition, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) finds that renewable energy employed 9.8 million people around the world in 2016 – a 1.1% increase over 2015.

This report highlights the role of islands in global efforts against climate change. It highlights transitions to renewables in the power, including planning and implementation, enabling business models and transition tools.

This report explores potential for urban communities to scale-up renewables by 2030, based on estimated energy use 3,649 cities around the world. By highlighting the best practices, it examines the policies and technologies by which cities can bring about a renewable energy future.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation is poised to revolutionise the electrical system in countries around the world. From around 2% in 2016, the share of global electricity generated from solar PV to grow to as much as 13% by 2030, according to this report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The solar industry’s expansion is driven primarily by cost reductions, with the report anticipating further cost declines by up to 59% in ten years.

Irrigation improves yields, reduces vulnerability to changing rainfall patterns, and enables multiple cropping practices. This can stimulate socio-economic development in the agriculture sector helping the fight against poverty.

This report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) provides the first quantification of the macroeconomic impact of doubling the global share of renewables in the energy mix by 2030.

Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review presents the status of renewable energy employment, both by technology and in selected countries, over the past year. In this second edition, IRENA estimates that renewable energy employed 7.7 million people, directly or indirectly, around the world in 2014 (excluding large hydropower).

Energy storage capabilities are crucial for the integration of high levels variable renewable sources, such as solar and wind energy, onto the power grid.

Renewable energy technologies can address trade-offs between water, energy and food, bringing substantial benefits in all three key sectors. This report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) looks at how adopting renewables can ease trade-offs by providing less resource-intensive energy services compared to conventional energy technologies.

The United States (US) has the potential to lead the global transition to renewable energy. It has some of the best wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, and biomass resources in the world. It also has a vibrant culture of innovation, plentiful financing opportunities, and a highly skilled workforce, alongside an agile and entrepreneurial business sector.

Universal electricity access – one of the targets of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative for 2030 – will remain unachievable unless countries adopt a market-based approach to off-grid renewable energy deployment. This report highlights key findings and recommendations of the Second International Off-grid Renewable Energy Conference (IOREC 2014), organised by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in partnership with off-grid and regional agencies.

This IRENA/IEA-ETSAP Technology Brief provides technical background, analyses the potential and barriers for market growth, and offers insights for policy makers on tSolar thermal systems (STS) .

A Path to Prosperity: Renewable energy for islands was developed in support of the Renewable Energy Forum, a one-day forum preceding the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), held in Apia, Samoa, on 1-4 September 2014. The booklet is a collection of case studies submitted by SIDS and development partners to complement Forum discussions.

Tourism is an important economic driver for island economies. Energy supply, vital for the tourism industry, is still dominated by oil products which increases islands’ vulnerability to the environmental impact of fossil-fuel use, as well as to oil price volatility, which makes it difficult for the industry to remain competitive

Over 5.7 million people are employed directly or indirectly in renewable energy – a figure that could triple by 2030 with the scale-up needed to ensure global energy sustainability. As policy makers look beyond energy security and environmental aspects, the comprehensive Renewable Energy and Jobs report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) examines wider socio-economic benefits, and specifically job creation.

This report provides the most current, comprehensive analysis of the costs and performance of renewable power generation technologies available today (2012).

IRENA’s working paper, Doubling the Global Share of Renewable Energy: A Roadmap to 2030, outlines the proposed process, and progress to date, of REMAP 2030 – IRENA’s global roadmap for policies and actions to double the share of renewable energy by 2030.

This summary provided key insights on cost trends for renewable power generation ahead of a ground-breaking series of comprehensive cost studies by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

This draft strategic framework for capacity building initiatives by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) identifies key requirements and conditions to encourage the adoption and scale-up of renewable energy.

This special collection of country profiles takes stock of the latest developments in renewables in island settings around the world.

This handbook introduces Capacity Development Needs Diagnostics for Renewable Energy (CaDRE), an approach devised by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to help policy makers, organisations and capacity-development or renewable-energy practitioners shape an environment conductive to the development of renewable energy.

These local case studies were prepared by IRENA in cooperation with the organisations described. They intend to explore the employment dimension of renewable energy development and deployment in rural areas in the developing world.