International Clean Energy Day highlights the role of clean energy in cutting emissions, expanding access and ensuring a fair transition that leaves no one behind, especially in the world’s most vulnerable regions.
International Clean Energy Day and a just energy transition
In a world grappling with climate change, clean energy plays a central role in reducing emissions. Beyond that, it helps ensure that everyone can take part in development without being left behind by progress. Clean energy can support communities that still lack access to reliable power while protecting the planet. Today, 666 million people still live without electricity, more than 85% of them in sub-Saharan Africa. For these reasons, January 26 marks International Clean Energy Day.
Why International Clean Energy Day is observed on January 26
International Clean Energy Day is celebrated on January 26 following a decision by the United Nations General Assembly. With Resolution A/77/327, adopted on August 25, 2023, the Assembly established the day to promote global awareness and mobilization toward a just, equitable and inclusive energy transition for the benefit of people and the planet.
The date also marks the founding of the International Renewable Energy Agency, established in 2009 to support countries on their path toward energy transition. IRENA serves as a global platform for international cooperation and provides data and analysis on technologies, innovation, policy, finance and investment in clean energy.
Why clean energy matters
According to the United Nations, promoting clean energy is essential because more than 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossil fuels for energy production. The use of polluting fuels for cooking causes 3.2 million premature deaths each year, over 800,000 of them in Africa alone. Clean cooking systems can prevent a large share of these deaths. Every dollar invested in renewable energy creates three times as many jobs as investments in the fossil fuel industry. Coal, oil and gas account for nearly 90% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Scientists stress the need to cut global emissions by 50% by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2050 to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. In 2025, newly installed clean energy capacity is expected to reach a new annual record, at least 800 GW worldwide.
Clean energy underpins socio-economic development and environmental sustainability. Many regions still rely heavily on fossil fuels for everyday needs, often in areas with low levels of economic development. According to United Nations estimates, nearly 1.5 billion people in rural areas still use unsafe, unhealthy and inefficient cooking systems such as burning wood.
Progress made, but not yet enough
Significant progress has been made toward clean energy. According to IRENA data, renewables accounted for more than 90% of new power capacity added globally in 2024, with 585 GW of additional capacity. While this marks a clear improvement, the world is still not on track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7, which aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030.
Clean energy and climate change
Clean energy is essential in the fight against climate change. Greenhouse gases that trap the sun’s heat largely come from energy production based on fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas.
Scientists are unanimous in their message. To limit the impacts of climate change, fossil fuels must be phased out in favor of alternative energy sources that are clean, accessible, affordable, sustainable and reliable. Renewable energy sources, abundantly available from the sun, wind, water, the Earth’s heat and even waste, naturally regenerate and pose little to no risk to the planet’s health.
Energy efficiency also plays a crucial role. Using less energy to achieve the same outcome, through more efficient technologies in transport, buildings, lighting and appliances, reduces carbon pollution, supports universal access to sustainable energy and lowers costs.
Renewable energy is available everywhere
Renewable energy sources are present in every country and their potential continues to grow. According to the Renewables 2025 report by the International Energy Agency, global renewable capacity by 2030 will double compared to current levels. Renewables reduce dependence on energy imports, help diversify economies and protect against unpredictable fossil fuel price swings.
Renewables are increasingly affordable
Renewable energy is now the most affordable power source in much of the world, driven by rapidly falling technology costs. More than 90% of new renewable projects are cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives. In 2024, renewables outcompeted fossil fuels in 91% of cases, delivering global savings of USD 467 billion. Solar and wind remain the most competitive technologies.
What clean energy can deliver on the ground
In northern Uganda, in the city of Arua, an area marked by high unemployment and poverty, the United Nations supports a business that provides solar energy through pay-as-you-go or installment models. This approach makes electricity accessible even in the most remote villages, where households would otherwise lack the resources to connect.
Lighting up remote communities
In the villages of Ko Bong and Tha Phai Bai, in Laos, located along the Theun River, a major hydropower project feeds renewable electricity into the national grid. Yet nearby communities, too remote to be connected, long remained excluded and relied on costly, polluting and unreliable diesel generators.
That changed in 2020, when both villages gained access to electricity through a community-managed solar system. The mini-grid operates independently from the national grid, offering a reliable, affordable and clean solution for remote communities. Known as a flex-grid, the system includes a central energy hub and individual storage units that can be expanded as demand grows. The more modules are added, the stronger and more resilient the system becomes.
Laos has also taken a major step forward with the launch in August 2025 of Southeast Asia’s largest onshore wind farm and the region’s first cross-border renewable energy project. The Monsoon Wind Power Project has a capacity of 600 MW and is expected to avoid 32.5 million metric tons of carbon emissions over 25 years.
