IRENA chief: Countries investing in renewables less affected by crises at ADIPEC 2026

Francesco La Camera, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), has said that recent geopolitical crises have shown the value of investing in renewables. “The countries that invested more in renewables in the past have been the countries that suffered less from what happened,” he said.

In statements to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on the sidelines of ADIPEC 2026, being held in Abu Dhabi from 2nd to 5th November, La Camera said: “I think the world has accepted the idea that a system that is decentralised and based on renewables gives more guarantees when we talk about energy security.”

At the same time, energy demand “is increasing more than expected and will continue to increase”, he said, which has implications for the 2030 target of tripling renewable capacity. “We are getting close, very close to it,” he said of the target. But with demand growing faster, he added, “the tripling could be not sufficient, and we have to go beyond it.”

Released in October, IRENA’s World Energy Transition Outlook 2026: 1.5°C Pathway projects that electricity’s share of global final energy use will grow from around 23 per cent today to 35 per cent by 2035, and to more than 50 per cent by 2050.

“This 35 [per cent] electrification by 2035 is what we need in action on the ground to bring the ship back to the trajectory that is consistent with the achievement of the Paris Agreement,” he added.

The report finds that the cost of renewable energy keeps declining, that annual additions of renewable capacity have broken records year after year, and that electrification is gaining ground in transport, buildings and industry. Yet it also finds that progress is still much too slow and unevenly spread.

Turning to artificial intelligence (AI), a key theme of ADIPEC 2026, La Camera said the technology holds major potential for the energy sector. “[AI] offers the energy industry all the potential for making the grids work better and for decreasing the energy demand in the industrial sector.”

However, the outlook also notes that the fast growth of AI and large-scale data centres is creating a major new source of electricity demand, putting added strain on grids, storage and dispatchable low-carbon power generation.

Asked whether renewables can keep pace with this demand, La Camera said firm renewables backed by storage can provide the stable electricity that data centres need. “We can afford the demand coming from the data centres, and renewables is the right choice,” he said.

The third day of ADIPEC 2026 focused on the technologies reshaping energy systems, as energy and technology leaders explored how AI, automation and advanced analytics can make infrastructure more intelligent, efficient and resilient. Thursday is the final day of ADIPEC 2026.