G20

The G20 (Group of Twenty) is a forum for the world’s largest economies. The G20 accounted for 84% of the world’s electricity demand in 2023 and 93% of global coal generation. 

Since the Paris Agreement, 60% of G20 countries have reduced their share of coal by varying degrees. The UK has seen the largest decline in coal share, with a fall from 22% in 2015 to 1.4% in 2023.

South Africa has been the G20 country with the highest share of coal generation since 2015, followed by India. Since 2015, Indonesia has overtaken China and Australia and became the country with the third highest share of coal generation in 2023.

Most G20 countries have begun building wind and/or solar power at scale. In Germany and the UK, wind and solar together generated 39% and 33% of electricity respectively in 2023.  Across the G20, wind accounted for 8.9% and solar for 6% of the electricity mix.

In terms of other clean power in the mix, hydro’s share in global electricity generation has fallen from 15% in 2015 to 13% in 2023. Most G20 countries have seen their market share of hydro generation remain stable or fall. The exceptions are France, Germany, Indonesia, Russia, South Africa and South Korea, where the share of hydro generation has increased.

Nine of the G20 countries have increased the share of gas in their power mixes since 2015, with Saudi Arabia showing the largest increase, from 47% to 67%. Meanwhile, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, and Türkiye have seen a decline in gas share in their power mixes.

France has the highest share of nuclear in its power mix, but its share fell from 76% in 2015 to 65% in 2023. Germany saw the largest fall in its share of nuclear generation, from 14% in 2015 to 1.7% in 2023. South Korea has the second-highest nuclear share (29%) among the G20 countries, but its share has also slightly decreased.

According to the IEA’s Net Zero Emissions scenario, OECD countries within the G20 must achieve net zero electricity sectors by 2035 and by 2045 for other countries. The scale of ambition required to meet this has now been agreed, with world leaders at COP28 committing to a global goal to triple renewables and double energy efficiency improvements. 

 

Last updated: May 2024