Governments and stakeholders worldwide are taking voluntary actions within their own spheres of competence and responsibility to advance and benefit from renewable energy. While informal unilateral action by governments cannot replace binding action agreed in the dedicated multilateral policy processes, it does provide an alternative or “soft” approach that should be encouraged in parallel to formal or “hard” action. The voluntary actions that have been taken since the Bonn conference in 2004 have proved to be flexible and feasible, while at the same time significant. They have led to many far-reaching commitments with a large scope and impact. Non-governmental stakeholders have engaged in this bottom-up-approach just as well as governments.

Since its inception, REN21 has promoted voluntary action as a powerful and flexible way to advance renewable energy uptake worldwide. Governments, international organisations, research institutions, private companies, industry associations, and civil society groups all have their role to play in designing policies, deploying technologies, expanding markets, advancing research, providing education, offering advice, building capacity, and raising awareness.