New UN Guidebook Charts Path to Just, Resilient Energy Transition

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The 62nd sessions of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies (SB 62) held in Bonn, Germany, from June 16 to 26, 2025, this week saw the launch of a new guidebook aimed at strengthening countries’ efforts to advance climate action through renewable energy technologies.

The energy sector, the largest source of global greenhouse gas emissions, has emerged as the highest-priority sector for mitigation, critical to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The newly launched guidebook, the UNFCCC Technology Executive Committee (TEC), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre (UNEP-CCC), focuses on renewable energy technologies within the Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) framework

Strengthening the existing guidance on TNA—one of the longest-standing processes under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement to support technology development and transfer—the guide offers an overview of a broad range of renewable energy technologies that countries can consider, either individually or in combination. These include solar PV, onshore and offshore wind, hydropower, and other renewables like geothermal and potentially bioenergy, depending on national circumstances and development priorities.

The guide features chapters exploring key aspects of deploying renewable energy technologies, including:

Economic feasibility and affordability
Mitigation potential and net-zero alignment
Barriers to deployment
Climate resilience considerations
Just transition aspects

“Countries are increasingly demanding practical tools to accelerate renewable energy deployment,” said Sara Traerup, Global TNA Project Coordinator at UNEP-CCC.

She added that “this guidebook comes at exactly the right time – supporting national TNA teams with targeted, accessible knowledge to prioritize technologies that not only reduce emissions but also drive sustainable development.”

“As the global community moves toward a just and resilient energy transition, this guidebook offers countries not only a clear roadmap for prioritising and deploying renewable energy technologies, but also a practical tool for embedding social equity, climate resilience, and local empowerment into national energy strategies,” said Eleonora Gatti, Head of Climate Technology Innovation at UNIDO.