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12.2.3 The Coronavirus Pandemic Impact on the Near-Term
and Longer-Term Future of Renewables

The onset of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020, and the stringent measures taken by governments
around the world to control its spread, has produced severe economic consequences. At the peak of the first
surge in late March/early April governments responded to the economic fallout by introducing a variety of
stimulus packages to alleviate the impacts of lost jobs, reduced commerce, and drops in national GDPs. Many
renewable energy organizations such as IRENA developed policy statements that encouraged governments
to include measures that would accelerate the use of renewable energy deployments and to jump-start
programs designed to mitigate climate change.While some governments have adopted climate-friendly
stimulus measures, many have not.

There is ample evidence that the immediate impacts of the of the pandemic on renewable energy deployments
have been reduced demand for these technologies, company shutdowns, and disruptions in supply chains. On
the other hand, some industry associations such as Solar Power Europe are predicting that the longer-term
impacts on the growth of PV deployments would be relatively small.

At the time of this writing parts of the world have entered into a second, more serious surge of the pandemic,
threatening further lockdowns and economic disruptions. Governments are continuing to explore stimulus
packages to alleviate the economic consequences of the measures that need to be taken to control the
pandemic, and the call for supporting the renewable energy sector in these packages continues.

Despite the tragic consequences that the pandemic is currently reaping on society and the profound impacts
on the short-term growth of renewable energy technologies, the renewable energy industry remains optimistic
that impacts on renewable energy development will, in the long run, be relatively minimal. Where government
stimulus is available for clean energy development, the longer-term impact of the pandemic could actually
result in an acceleration of renewable energy development over pre-pandemic levels.

The International Energy Agency has reported that, global carbon dioxide emissions decreased by up to 8%
(2.6 Gt) compared to 2019 due to substantially reduced economic activity and demand for energy services,
particularly in the power and mobility sectors. Although such an annual decrease is in line with what the
IPCC [4] recommends securing a 1.5ºC cap by 2050, it is likely that emissions will once again increase post
pandemic, perhaps even at a greater rate than pre-pandemic levels, without sustained government action to
enact measures to maintain the decreases over the long term.

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