Bureaucrats must save the world The pledges are in. The technology is ready. We have everything we need to cut CO2-emissions in half by 2030 and get on track for the 1.5° target. Everything except for enough permitted projects. Today, 100s of gigawatts of renewable capacity are caught in complex and lengthy permitting procedures. These procedures are suffering from a lack of focus and essential resources. The authorities that drive them are missing the political will and mandate to make decisions that could shorten the process. It takes up to a decade of documentation to achieve approvals to build renewable energy projects. In the EU alone, there is four times more wind energy trapped in permitting than there is under construction. 1 Permitting represents a tangible, solvable barrier to the rapid scale up of wind energy. And more wind energy is one of the most direct pathways to solve the two biggest challenges facing the world today: the climate crisis and the energy crisis. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), reducing global carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement means that global installed renewable capacity must reach more than 10,000 GW by 2030. Today we have around 3,000 GW. That is just seven years to install more renewables than we have in the past 40. This may sound impossibly ambitious, but there is a straightforward solution that would drastically accelerate our progress towards this goal: faster permitting for new wind power projects. By greenlighting more projects, we can expand sustainable power generation, replace fossil fuels and increase energy security. Furthermore, it will enable the wind industry supply chain to build sufficient scale to deliver on decarbonisation, jobs and economic growth. Global crises are not solved with charismatic speeches. The solution is right in front of us, and it is less sexy to say the least. To fulfill the promises made by world leaders every year, we need to start implementing the technology we have. But right now, the wind industry is not permitted to solve the climate crisis. So now it is time for an unlikely hero: The Bureaucrat. Bureaucrats, we need your help to drastically accelerate the decarbonisation of our societies. And to support you, this guide will provide guidance on how to shorten permitting processes and take action against climate breakdown. 1. Source: https://www.energymonitor.ai/policy/data-insight-the-permitting-problem-for-eu-wind-farms
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