Driving the Clean Energy Transition: A Progress Report on Implementing U.S. Efforts to Advance Clean Energy

Office of the Spokesperson

The United States is committed to tackling the climate crisis through the deployment of cost-cutting clean energy technologies at home and abroad. As countries gathered for “Energy Day” at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, the United States continued to demonstrate leadership through both the launch of new initiatives and the expansion of previous work:

• Launching the Clean Energy Demand Initiative (CEDI) Secretariat – The Clean Energy Demand Initiative (CEDI), a public-private partnership between the Department of State and the Clean Energy Buyers Alliance, launched the CEDI Secretariat to extend its work connecting countries with companies interested in investing in clean energy to power their operations. Through CEDI, companies can send demand signals for clean energy and countries can develop policy plans that enable corporate renewable procurement. Around 80 companies have joined CEDI, representing a wide range of sectors, including technology, manufacturing, retail, and health. Taken together, these companies could drive up to $100 billion in clean energy infrastructure across 14 countries.
• Expanding the Net Zero World (NZW) Initiative – The Net Zero World Initiative plans to welcome new partners – Thailand and Singapore – to bring the expertise of the world-class U.S. National Laboratories to help government decision makers at the national and regional levels make informed climate and energy policy and investment decisions for the transition toward a net-zero future. The United States is also announcing a Women’s Net Zero World Leadership Program as well as the establishment of collaboration work programs with Chile, Indonesia, and Nigeria, and the launch of in-depth analytic and technical cooperation on priority projects with these countries.
• Launching the Zero Emissions Vehicles in Emerging Markets Initiative – In an effort to step up cooperation between companies and emerging markets to transition to zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), the initiative, co-led by the United States Department of State, United Kingdom Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), will foster dialogue between emerging markets and major companies to accelerate private investment and public policies enabling both companies and governments to achieve their ambitious ZEV deployment goals. The initiative will contribute to the broader ZEV Transition Council (ZEV-TC) framework – which the U.S. and U.K. governments co-chair – and the activities of its participants to support an accelerated and more equitable global transition to ZEVs. Arcadis, DHL, Fifthwall, Grab, Hitachi, Honda, KPMG, Leaseplan, Linkedin, Sabanci and Uber have signed on to participate in the initiative. Altogether, these companies have already announced 50 billion USD of investments toward the global ZEV transition through their operations, including committing to deploy more than two million EVs by 2030.
• U.S. joining the Global Memorandum of Understanding on Medium and Heavy Duty Vehicles – U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm announced that the U.S. Government signs onto a global Memorandum of Understanding to advance Zero-Emission Medium and Heavy-Duty Vehicles (ZE-MHDV). This MOU leverages the Biden-Harris Administration’s existing whole-of-government approach to address the climate crisis, including an interagency agreement between the U.S. Departments of Energy, Transportation, Housing & Urban Development, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with the goal of creating a comprehensive blueprint for decarbonizing the transportation sector.
• Expanding the U.S.-ASEAN Climate Solutions Hub to include Pacific Island Countries – The United States announced the creation of the U.S-ASEAN Climate Solutions Hub during the May US-ASEAN Leaders Summit and has now expanded this platform to also include Pacific Island Countries. Now, the U.S.-ASEAN and Pacific Island Countries Climate Solutions Hub will provide technical assistance to ASEAN and Pacific Island countries in order to accelerate implementation of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and related low-emission development and resilience strategies. This demand-driven initiative will support renewable energy deployment, decarbonization of the transportation sector, methane reduction efforts, and sustainable agriculture, forestry, and land management. It will also support the development of energy and land-use frameworks and measures that mobilize public and private finance and achieve just transitions.
• Supporting Advanced Nuclear Zero Emissions Solutions for Ukraine and the EU – The United States has launched two projects that showcase the use of innovative small modular reactor (SMR) technologies for powering global decarbonization efforts and providing options to achieve net zero transitions in hard-to-abate energy sectors. This launch includes (i) commencing a 2-year demonstration project in Ukraine to efficiently produce clean hydrogen fuels from SMRs and establish new avenues to achieve food security through production of clean ammonia for fertilizer production, and (ii) launching a new initiative, Project Phoenix, to accelerate the transition in Europe of coal-fired plants to SMRs while retaining and retraining local jobs through U.S. support of coal-to-SMR feasibility studies and supporting activities.
• Launching the Just Energy Workforce Transition – The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources’ Power Sector Program launched the Just Energy Workforce Transition project, which will support the Government of Indonesia in promoting clean energy development and decarbonization by addressing workforce sector needs in achieving a just clean energy transition. This 18-month pilot program will develop a pathway to collect jobs data using U.S. data collection, modeling, and analysis methodology, providing Indonesian policymakers with better insight into clean energy power sector jobs, its workforce, and the impact of the transition from coal jobs to clean energy jobs. This will inform them on how this transition will affect employment in general, while also helping inform infrastructure investment choices and identify educational opportunities.
• Providing Regulatory and Grid Support to India – As a follow-on to the Flexible Resources Initiative (FRI) of the U.S.-India Clean Energy Finance Task Force, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources’ Power Sector Program will provide additional support to help India realize its ambitious target of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel power generation capacity by 2030. Support will include an assessment of key operational and grid reliability risks, regulatory and policy strategy recommendations, and alignment of state-level power sector investment planning with national clean power targets.
• Empowering Youth as Clean Energy Leaders – The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) – the Youth Programs Division in the Office of Citizen Exchanges – in collaboration with the Office of Global Change and the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, have created a three-week, in-person On-Demand Youth Leadership Program for approximately 20 youth (ages 15-18) and adult mentors from the United States, Botswana, Kenya, and Namibia to develop a deeper understanding of clean energy and to foster their ability to provide solutions to the climate crisis in their home communities. The exchange is scheduled for March 2023.
• Scaling up the Global Climate Action Platform to Enhance Regional Mitigation and Resilience Efforts – Formally the Low-Emissions Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP), Global Climate Action Partnership (GCAP) will scale up the support for global, regional, national and subnational climate actions and pathways towards decarbonization in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. This next generation of activities will focus on strengthened support for implementation of near-term climate goals and actions that pave the way toward development of longer-term resilient, just, and inclusive low emission and net zero economies.
• Expanding the Collective 2030 Zero Emissions Vehicle Goal – In July 2022, Canada, Chile, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Norway, and the United Kingdom joined the United States in a collective 2030 zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) deployment goal of having ZEVs make up 50 percent of new light-duty vehicle sales by 2030, to include battery electric, fuel cell electric, and plug-in hybrid vehicles. At COP27, Singapore joined the collective goal. By accelerating action in key markets, this collective goal will help speed a fully global transformation of the automotive sector, and help us accomplish key energy security, climate, and economic transformation goals.