In early November 2025, Brazil hosted the ISES Solar World Congress in Fortaleza, and a few days later in Belém, the 30th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which started also in Brazil during Rio92.
COP30, the “implementation COP”, was expected to bring together world leaders, scientists, and other stakeholders to discuss the implementation of climate action plans and advance the goals of the Paris Agreement, particularly the original target of limiting global warming to 1.5 oC, which has already been exceeded.
Young ISES is a social and professional network for young ISES members, which was active at the Solar World Congress this year. During the SWC, where 45% of participants were students, Young ISES crafted a manifesto to be taken to a press conference at COP 30. Youth will inherit the long-term consequences of today’s decisions, and the young people of ISES, representing diverse regions, cultures, and realities across the world, called upon the leaders of COP30 to move decisively from pledges to implementation, demanding meaningful participation and a renewable energy transformation.
In the text released at COP30 before dawn on Friday, however, all mentions of fossil fuels had been dropped. The text, which is still subject to further negotiation, would need approval by consensus to be adopted. The draft also called for global efforts to triple the financing available to help nations adapt to climate change by 2030, from 2025 levels, but it did not specify whether this money would be provided directly by wealthy governments, or other sources, including development banks or the private sector.
Meanwhile, solar photovoltaics keep on track to become the dominant electricity generation technology worldwide by the end of the current decade. Out of the nearly 400 papers presented at the SWC, 63% covered PV topics. The massive adoption of solar PV in Brazil since 2020, enabled by strong and consistent price reductions, is clearly reflected in the transformation of the country’s electricity generation mix. While solar accounted for only a couple of percentage points of Brazil’s total capacity in 2020, and was the 7th energy generation technology, it quickly surpassed coal, oil and natural gas to fill the 3rd place in 2022 and become the 2nd largest installed capacity in 2023, surpassing wind energy generation. Since 2023, solar PV has consistently increased its share of the Brazilian energy mix, and it will reach 25% by the end of 2025. At the current pace, by the end of this decade, there will be more PV installed capacity in the country than the century-old hydropower.
Authors: Prof. Ricardo Rüther (UFSC), Prof. Andrew Blakers /ANU
ISES, the International Solar Energy Society is a UN-accredited membership NGO founded in 1954 working towards a world with 100% renewable energy for all, used efficiently and wisely.
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