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BRUSSELS, June 15, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/--

Countries around the world need to urgently scale up deployment of wind power

in order to address the climate emergency, according to the Global Wind

Coalition for COP26, which officially launches today on Global Wind Day.

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The world is in a 'make or break' decade for climate action, and it is against

this backdrop that the wind sector is intensifying its call for urgent climate

action leading up to COP26 in November. Holding the most decarbonisation

potential of any renewable energy source, wind power is an indispensable part

of the solution to climate change while generating significant socioeconomic

benefits.

But the world is not installing wind power at the pace needed to achieve net

zero, and much more needs to be done to unleash its potential.  According to

recently released roadmap reports on reaching Net Zero by the International

Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the

world needs to be installing wind power at around 3-4 times the level of 2020,

which saw a record 93 GW installed.

The wind industry's new campaign for COP26 asks governments, companies, and

people across the world one critical question: Wind. Are You In?

"We need to move from talking to action, and work together to massively scale

up wind power around the world if we want to get to net zero by 2050. We need

to be installing wind energy three to four times the current pace, which means

we need governments to urgently raise their ambition, simplify red tape, invest

in grid and revamp energy markets," said Ben Backwell, CEO at GWEC.

"The wind industry has the technology, and there is huge appetite from

investors and companies to switch to clean energy, but we need governments to

stop holding us back and be all in for wind", he added.

Wind power, both onshore and offshore, has expanded significantly in the last

decades and is now a cost-competitive, clean energy powerhouse poised to be at

the centre of the race to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. There is now

nearly 750 GW of global installed wind capacity, which helps the world already

avoid 1.1 billion tonnes of carbon emissions - equivalent to the annual carbon

emissions of South America.

The record-breaking deployment of global wind energy has been driven by a

virtuous cycle of innovation, cost reduction, and increased scale. The result

of this immense growth is that wind energy is now a mainstream energy source

and has proven to be reliable and affordable while being a sustainable engine

for economic growth.

"Investing in wind power is a win-win for countries to create new local jobs

and investment today to power a green recovery, while building more resilient

infrastructure and economies for tomorrow. Governments are missing their golden

opportunity to achieve their parallel goals of climate action and boosting

economies after the COVID-19 crisis if they don't take urgent action to drive

wind power growth. We need them to get serious about wind", commented Rebecca

Williams, Director of COP26 at GWEC.

"All eyes are going to be on Glasgow this November as world leaders gather for

COP26, and governments need to use this critical moment to put the world on the

right track to achieve net zero. We don't have time left to go on

'business-as-usual' - the climate emergency is already here. Luckily, we

already have the solution that can significantly reduce the world's carbon

emissions, but we need governments to join us now or risk getting left behind",

she added.

The Global Wind Energy Coalition for COP26 is an initiative led by the Global

Wind Energy Council (GWEC), and is a multi-stakeholder group of leading wind

power companies and associations from across the globe committed to ramping up

wind power capacity to limit the dangerous impacts of climate change. Members

include: Aker Offshore Wind, Akselos, BayWa r.e., DNV, EDP Renewables, Equinor,

GE Renewable Energy, Glennmont Partners from Nuveen, Green Investment Group,

Mainstream Renewable Power, Orsted, Principle Power, RES, RWE, Siemens Gamesa,

SSE Renewables, Vestas, ABEEolica, American Clean Power, Chinese Renewable

Energy Industry Association, Chinese Wind Energy Association, RenewableUK,

South African Wind Energy Association, and WindEurope.

For more information on the global wind industry's COP26 campaign, visit the

campaign website here ( http://www.windareyouin.com/ ).

Annex:

For an online press kit, including additional statistics on wind energy,

photos, and quotes from industry leaders, please click here (

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IxEdFSsIkormxhxmBs4-YQ_-fpgL1O3W?usp=sharing

).

About GWEC

GWEC is a member-based organization that represents the entire wind energy

sector. The members of GWEC represent over 1,500 companies, organizations and

institutions in more than 80 countries, including manufacturers, developers,

component suppliers, research institutes, national wind and renewables

associations, electricity providers, finance and insurance companies. See

https://gwec.net/.

Keep up to date with GWEC and receive the latest data and insights on the

global wind industry on Twitter, LinkedIn and by subscribing to the Newsletter,

https://gwec.net/newsletter-sign-up/.

SOURCE:  Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC)

CONTACT: GWEC

         Michael Morris

         michael.morris@gwec.net

         +45-2575-0427