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The striking finding by the International Energy Agency shows renewable power could soar from just over a fifth of global electricity generation today to nearly a third by 2030 – a bigger share than either coal, gas or nuclear plants.

This shows today’s energy companies are making a “major fatal error” if they assume climate action is not going to affect their businesses, said Fatih Birol, the IEA chief economist.

 “That would be like assuming interest rates will stay the same for the next 25 years,” he told the Financial Times in an interview. “It’s the same type of short-sightedness.”

For the first time in UN climate negotiations, nearly all countries are supposed to limit their greenhouse gas emissions as part of a global agreement due to be signed in Paris in December.

The measures already unveiled by dozens of nations should sharply reduce the use of fossil fuels, especially coal, in the US, the EU and elsewhere, the IEA says in a report timed to influence negotiations for the Paris deal……..

Renewables accounted for about half of all new power plant capacity built last year, and the IEA expects that share to rise in coming years. The agency says renewable power now accounts for 22 per cent of global electricity generation, well behind coal at 41 per cent.

But the IEA’s analysis of countries’ Paris climate pledges shows that renewables’ share of generation will increase to 32 per cent by 2030, just pipping coal. http://www.afr.com/business/mining/coal/renewables-on-course-to-overtake-coal-by-2030-20150615-ghny2e