26 September, Lisbon, Portugal | GWEC welcomes the endorsement of renewable energy demonstrated at the United Nations this week. With almost 100 countries signalling new climate targets and numerous countries submitting or announced new and updated NDCs, the commitment to the Paris Agreement remains strong.
Around 78% of new NDCs referenced renewable energy, with governments across the world reaffirming their commitment to the tripling renewables pledge. Renewable energy, with wind at its core, is now recognized not only as a climate necessity, but as the foundation of energy security and economic growth.
GWEC calls on governments to ignore the noise and focus on the facts: wind energy delivers more than 1.1TWh of electricity – equivalent to more than 500 million homes - and is responsible for 1.5m jobs around the world. Wind turbines are generating clean and secure renewable energy in 124 countries, and countries are delivering new plans, policies and action to install new capacity. And moreover, wind is cheap. Last year, over 90% of newly added renewable power capacity was cheaper than new fossil fuel alternatives, with onshore wind leading the way - costing less than half the price of the lowest-cost fossil option.
Ben Backwell, CEO of the Global Wind Energy Council and Chair of the Global Renewables Alliance, said: “The renewables sector welcomes the recognition of renewable energy’s crucial role in the future global economy. NDCs are much more than climate plans, they are a roadmap for delivering clean jobs, reinvigorated economies and shared global growth. As the energy transition continues to gain momentum, the noise from those that aim to slow global progress must not deter those working for a cleaner, fairer future. These roadmaps must now be backed up with concrete measures to deliver, so that countries and communities can realise the enormous benefits of renewable energy.”
The world will now turn its attention to COP30 in Belem, Brazil. In New York, President Lula described NDCs as ‘the road maps’ guiding countries through an energy transition that ‘opens the door to a productive and technological transformation comparable to the Industrial Revolution’. This year’s COP must be focused on driving decisive action that delivers on the NDCs. That means:
It is also important to call out the misinformation delivered by US President Donald Trump at the UN General Assembly.
While the false claims are too many to address, the facts spell out reality: wind energy is well established as one of the most competitive and fastest to deploy source of new power and is being adopted by growing numbers of countries every year. Wind and other renewables are an important catalyst for investment and job creation.
Investment momentum around the world is also strong; global investment in new renewable energy development reached a record $386 billion in the first half of 2025, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). BNEF’s data shows that investment is shifting from the US to Europe and other regions, due to a hostile policy environment, undermining the US’s position in the global renewable energy market and making it more difficult to meet growing power demand. President Trump also missed the target on his analysis of subsidies, which the UN Secretary-General accurately detailed at the General Assembly, explaining that ‘public subsidies - taken from taxpayer money - still flow to fossil fuels over clean energy by a factor of nine to one.’