Drive Electric Campaign and ReNew2030 join forces to supercharge the transition to renewable energy and electric transportation

SAN FRANCISCO and THE HAGUE – November 27, 2023 – Today, the Drive Electric Campaign and ReNew2030 announced a partnership to support an accelerated just transition to clean energy and electric transportation. Their shared, people centered vision of an electrified future works to shape responsible and circular mineral supply chains and advance the economic co-benefits of job creation and green industrial development in the renewable and auto sectors. The partnership brings together hundreds of partners working in dozens of countries to advance renewable energy and all forms of zero-emission transport.

Drive Electric and ReNew2030 are both recipients of the TED Audacious Project, a collaborative funding initiative that catalyzes social impact on a grand scale and encourages the world’s greatest changemakers to dream bigger.

Rebecca Collyer, Executive Director of ReNew2030, said, “We have a limited window to act and a huge opportunity to grow renewable energy exponentially. Underpinning the growth in solar, wind and grids that we hope for will be the sustainable use of critical raw materials. A just energy transition is paramount for a livable future, and coordinating efforts with the Drive Electric Campaign will yield a deeper understanding of the barriers and solutions to an electrified future.”

The partnership supports an accelerated expansion of clean technologies to phase out polluting fossil fuels in two high-emitting industries. Electrifying the road transport sector including cars, trucks, buses, and two- & three-wheelers could eliminate over 160 gigatons of carbon pollution cumulatively through 2060 while saving lives and improving livelihoods. Renewable power such as wind, solar, and battery storage can help decarbonize the power sector rapidly by 2030 and will address the sector’s outsized emissions.

“Reaching our goals for a safe climate will require a massive buildout of both renewable energy and an accelerated transition to electric road transportation,” said Rebecca Fisher, Drive Electric Campaign Director. “Our partnership with ReNew2030 is inspired by the opportunity to transition our energy and road transport sectors by ensuring emerging economies have access to clean, zero-emission power and vehicles of all types – and can leapfrog over dirty combustion as economies and populations expand in the coming years.”

Our collaboration recognizes that the energy transition needs to center responsibility, accountability, and justice as we work towards a climate-safe future. To this end, the Drive Electric Campaign and ReNew2030 will work with the ClimateWorks Foundation’s Minerals for the Energy Transition initiative to help shape the growing mineral supply chain for clean energy technologies and support value addition and benefits to communities and mineral-rich countries.

Opportunities for collaboration include joint energy transition projects, and research publications with a particular focus on electrification and transition minerals. Coordinating efforts also maximize benefits to people and livelihoods: 

• Expanding the percentage of renewable energy on the grid further enhances the environmental benefits of electrifying transport.
• Shaping and improving mineral supply chains and extraction for clean technologies can further secure the environmental and social benefits of the energy transition.
• Increasing the number of electric vehicles on the grid and investing in vehicle-grid-integration (VGI) can enable higher levels of renewable generation and improve grid resiliency, reliability, and affordability. 
• Building out mini- or off-grid renewables coupled with electric vehicle fleets can bring power to previously underserved communities.

About the Drive Electric Campaign

The Drive Electric Campaign is an ambitious, philanthropy-powered global initiative to achieve a global tipping point leading to end the polluting tailpipe and accelerate the transition to 100% sales of zero-emission electric cars, trucks, buses, and 2 & 3 wheelers for the benefit of health, climate, and the economy. 

About ReNew2030

ReNew2030 is a global coalition of experts, civil society, and philanthropic organizations working toward a first, fast, fair energy transition by mobilizing key actors across: government, business, and communities around the world. Our goal for 2030 is to increase global wind and solar capacity x5 in the countries responsible for over 80% of the power sector emissions to improve energy security, create new jobs and deliver health, climate and economic benefits.

Media Contacts 

Drive Electric Campaign: Tara DiMaio, tara.dimaio@climateworks.org 

ReNew2030: Catherine McNally, catherine.mcnally@europeanclimate.org

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