What a day! ECO had the privilege of attending the first Renewable Energy Tracker Race. It featured 60 national teams, cheered on by over 70,000 spectators chanting “Just! Fast! Fair! Renewables for All!” Teams competed in a relay, propelled by their energy mixes and respective capabilities. Advanced or emerging and developing economies (EMDEs) had differentiated challenges and specific rules respectively to ensure that the race would be equitable – what an exciting competition!
As the race kicked off, it became quickly evident that the winner would be an unexpected one. No country reached the finish line on time, but Chile, Brazil and China secured the first three places. In the middle of the pack, four EMDEs (Vietnam, Colombia, Jordan and India) overtook many rich nations, which were seen panting and struggling, held back by their lack of ambition, efforts and investments. Some were also spotted losing time burning wood logs to fuel their engine – a wrong tactical move that gave wind and solar-propelled teams a significant advantage!
As the race neared the end, the crowd’s boos got louder: South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Italy – among the rich and high emitter teams – had barely moved beyond the starting line. Many sub-Saharan African teams, short of funding and struggling to gather enough energy, were unable to even detach themselves from the starting blocks.
As ECO made its way through the mixed zone, it heard the head of the Rich Countries delegation commenting on the poor results: “We haven’t done enough, and we need to include the rapid, just, and sustainable scaling up of sustainable in the final rulebook so we can better prepare for the coming years. In the spirit of fair play, we also commit to financially support teams that need it”.
ECO was skeptical, having learned that such promises are rarely met, but a glimpse at the stadium gave us hope: supporters had unveiled a giant banner reading “100% Renewables, 100% Financeable”. Their chants echoed for miles, suggesting that a race for a Just and Equitable Phase Out of Fossil Fuels was on the horizon.