Can there be solar for all, everywhere by 2030?

Is solar for all, everywhere possible by 2030?

In a world set ablaze by war and global warming , with ever worsening climate disasters such as wildfires in Europe and collapsing glaciers in Nepal , solar energy provides the solution of clean, affordable power, prominent climate leaders wrote in an open letter pushing for more solar.

Signed by prominent climate figures such as author Bill McKibben, former UN Climate Secretary Christiana Figueres and Canada's former Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna, the letter makes a clear call. It urges governments, businesses, institutions and the public to come together to provide clean, affordable energy to "everyone, everywhere by 2030" — from the close to one billion people who still lack access to reliable electricity, to the billions more who pay too much for dirty fossil fuels.

With just a little over three years to go until the decade is out, how realistic is this push?

"It's an ambitious target, but we've blown away in terms of where we thought we would be on solar and renewables," McKenna told DW. "So let's just keep on going."

According to global energy think tank Ember, solar power has grown at its highest rate in eight years. In 2025, it increased by a record 30% over the previous year and has risen more than tenfold since 2015.

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