Name: RBE Tracker Indicator Framework
Creator: REN21

The RBE Tracker goes beyond measuring renewable energy deployment alone. It examines how renewable energy reshapes economies, energy systems, governance, equity and environmental outcomes.

The RBE Tracker is built through a participatory and crowd-sourced methodology rooted in REN21’s global community of policy makers, researchers, industry representatives and civil society organisations. It combines policy tracking, external datasets and qualitative insights to identify how renewable energy is reshaping economies and societies beyond the power sector.

Rather than focusing on deployment metrics alone, the framework tracks system-level transformation across four interconnected dimensions: energy systems and energy security, economy, society and governance, and environment and climate. It also highlights critical data gaps and emerging areas where better evidence is needed to support decision making and future transition planning.

How the Framework was developed

1. Building the evidence base

Policy databases, literature, datasets and expert inputs

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2. Global consultation and prioritisation

Survey across REN21 community and stakeholders

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3. Multi-stakeholder refinement

Qualitative assessment and framework testing

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4. Internal consolidation and gap identification

Indicator refinement and identification of missing evidence

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5. External review and validation

Special advisors and open peer review

What the Tracker Measures

The RBE Tracker combines indicators and identified data gaps to understand how renewable energy is reshaping economies and societies at system level. Indicators assess structural transformation across sectors and systems, while data gaps highlight areas where evidence, methodologies or global monitoring remain limited.

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Indicator Framework

The Tracker includes indicators designed to assess renewable energy deployment, system integration, economic transformation, social outcomes and environmental impacts across four interconnected dimensions.

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Energy Systems & Energy Security

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‍Renewable Energy Share in Total Final Energy Consumption
Assesses whether the energy transition is driving system-wide transformation beyond electricity generation.
Renewable and Non-Renewable Energy Consumption
Evaluates system-wide progress by measuring the shift towards renewables in critical end-use sectors like heating, cooling, and transport.
‍Shares of Electricity and Modern Renewables in Total Final Energy Consumption
Analyzes the relationship between these two dimensions to determine whether electrification and renewable integration are progressing in parallel or if they are misaligned.
Electricity Share in Total Final Energy Consumption
Evaluates electrification progress across regions to gauge the baseline for a renewables-based economy transformation.
Renewable Energy Share in Electricity Generation
Assesses the foundation for broader energy system transformation by tracking progress where decarbonization is currently leading.
Global Pay-as-you-go and Cash Sales of Solar Energy Kits
Assesses how renewables reshape energy governance and socioeconomic benefits by monitoring their deployment and ownership structures.
Global Energy Importers and Exporters
Measures energy import dependence to assess exposure to external supply risks and broader structural dependencies across energy systems.
‍Global Renewable Power Capacity and Annual Additions
Tracks the deployment of renewable generation across the energy system by highlighting the technologies shaping the transition.
‍Electricity Curtailment and Variable Renewable Energy Share
Reflects growing challenges in balancing supply and demand, showing how effectively energy systems are planned, managed, and aligned with electrification.
Global Annual Investment in Power Grids
Evaluates if investment in enabling infrastructure and system flexibility is keeping pace with renewable deployment.
Energy Storage (Stationary) Global Installed Capacity
Provides a comprehensive view to ensure that energy storage systems can accommodate rising shares of variable renewable energy.
‍Share of Electricity in Total Final Energy Consumption
Assesses how far electricity is displacing fossil fuels in end-use sectors while identifying where policy support is still needed.
‍Global Electric Car Sales
Assesses how renewable electricity is extending into the transport sector through accelerating electric mobility deployment.
Global Production of Liquid Biofuels
Tracks growth driven by policy mandates, blending requirements, and rising demand for low-emission transport fuels.
‍Heat Pump Sales
Tracks the role of heat pumps in decarbonizing heating and cooling while highlighting the influence of policy frameworks and market conditions.
Global Heat Consumption
Highlights the importance of accelerating renewable energy uptake across buildings and industry to support efficient system development.
Renewable Energy Share Targets
Assesses whether countries are aligning policy ambitions, infrastructure development, and sectoral transformation with the energy transition.
‍Countries with Renewable Energy Targets
Reveals how deeply renewables are being embedded in policy ambitions and identifies where heat and fuels remain overlooked.
Policies for the Uptake of Renewables in Energy Demand Sectors
Offers a practical lens to assess where policy ambitions are being translated into implementation and where gaps remain.
Countries with Policies for the Uptake of Renewables in Energy Demand Sectors
Reveals which demand sectors are receiving the most policy attention and which remain comparatively neglected.

Economy

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Policies for the Uptake of Renewables in Energy Demand Sectors (Policy Instrument, Demand Sector and Application)
Assesses how policy instruments are structured to support renewable integration across end-use sectors and applications.
Renewable Energy Manufacturing Capacity and Pipeline
Evaluates how countries are building industrial capabilities, localized manufacturing capacity, value creation, and supply chains.
Cumulative Renewable Energy Manufacturing Policies
Highlights a growing global focus on clean energy manufacturing while revealing disparities in policy scale and regional participation.
Fiscal and Financial Policies for Renewable Energy
Assesses how public finance and policy frameworks are shaping investment environments and the pace of the transition.
Countries with Fiscal and Financial Renewable Energy Policies
Reveals which policy instruments are most widely adopted and how comprehensive countries' policy mixes are across deployment barriers.
Fossil Fuel versus Renewable Energy Subsidies
Indicates whether support for incumbent energy sources undermines a level playing field and slows the pace of the transition.
Global Investment in Renewables and Low-Emission Technologies
Tracks investment in renewable energy and enabling technologies to assess how capital is being allocated across the transition.

Society & Governance

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Global Renewable Energy Employment
Indicates whether the transition is creating durable jobs and highlights structural concentration across technologies and regions.
Women's Share of Full-Time Employment in Renewable Energy
Assesses gender equity and demonstrates whether economies are harnessing the full potential of female employment.
Policies Supporting Reskilling for the Renewables and Energy Transition Sectors
Evaluates whether workforce development is keeping pace with industry needs to ensure an equitable transition.
Electricity Access Policies in Countries Without Universal Electricity Access
Demonstrates how renewables expand access to energy services and evaluates if policies effectively reach rural, remote, and low-income populations.
Electricity Access Policies in Countries Without Universal Electricity Access (Map)
Reveals the extent to which decentralized renewables are recognized as the primary pathway to expand electricity access.
Newly Installed Solar PV Capacity (Centralised vs. Distributed)
Sheds light on how effectively the renewables-based economy enables decentralized energy use and shifts ownership structures.
Compensation Mechanisms for Distributed Renewable Energy
Reflects different market designs and tracks how policy matures from incentivizing deployment to balancing integration and cost efficiency.
Policies for Household Energy Affordability with Renewables and Energy Efficiency
Evaluates the enabling conditions and policy frameworks needed to effectively reach vulnerable households and reduce operating costs.
Policies for Household Energy Affordability with Renewables and Energy Efficiency (Policy Type and Focus)
Reveals how policy mixes are structured to address access, affordability, energy efficiency, and community energy as interconnected goals.
National Community Energy and Citizen Engagement Policies
Assesses whether the transition is anchored in shared decision-making, local ownership, and equitable benefit-sharing.
Legally Registered European Renewable Energy Communities for Energy Production
Provides an indicator of policy adoption and demonstrates the extent to which local ownership models are driving systemic change.
Shares of Renewables in European Renewable Energy Communities
Reveals which renewable technologies established energy communities favor and signals their structural preferences.

Environment & Climate

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Main Sector Linked to Renewables in Countries’ Third Nationally Determined Contributions
Determines whether renewables are embedded as cross-cutting solutions for mitigation across sectors in national climate plans.
Main Sector Linked to Renewables in Countries’ National Adaptation Plans
Reveals renewable energy's growing role as a crucial adaptation measure, particularly in climate-vulnerable countries.
Renewables, Fossil Fuel Consumption and Energy-Related CO₂ Emissions |
Highlights a structural gap by showing whether renewable growth is displacing fossil fuels at scale or merely adding to overall supply.
Recycling Rates of Selected Metals and Minerals
Examines how circular practices maximize resource efficiency, reduce finite raw material extraction, and generate value.
Policies Regulating Renewable Energy Siting and Permitting
Assesses how regulatory frameworks enable or constrain sustainable renewable energy deployment.

Key Data Gaps Identified

A core objective of the first edition of the RBE Tracker is to identify areas where global monitoring, methodologies and comparable datasets remain limited. These gaps represent priority areas for future evidence development.

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Renewable Energy Use in Industry
Existing tracking remains fragmented and limited across industrial sectors, making it difficult to assess renewable energy integration in heavy industry and process heat applications.
System Integration and Flexibility Policies
Comparative tracking of policies supporting flexibility, storage, sector coupling, smart metering and demand-side management remains limited globally.
Upstream Supply Chains
Data gaps persist around renewable energy supply chains, manufacturing dependencies, critical minerals and broader resource resilience.
Renewables’ Contribution to the Economy
Globally comparable methodologies remain limited for assessing how renewable energy contributes to value creation, industrial development, trade, avoided imports and broader economic transformation.
Renewable Integration Across Policy Frameworks
Limited comparative analysis exists on how renewable energy is integrated into broader policy frameworks such as biodiversity, land-use, disaster risk reduction and adaptation planning.
Circularity and Recycling
Data on renewable energy waste streams, recycling rates and material recovery remains uneven across technologies and regions.
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The RBE Tracker is designed not only to monitor renewable energy deployment, but to understand how renewable energy transforms economies and societies at system level. By combining indicators, policy analysis and identified data gaps, the framework helps reveal where structural progress is occurring — and where further transformation is still needed.

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Built through crowd-sourced and crowd-owned data and insights

The RBE Hub is shaped by researchers, governments, industry associations and civil society organisations contributing data, analysis and expertise from around the world.

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Methodology

A systems-based framework for tracking renewables-based economies

The RBE Tracker goes beyond measuring renewable energy deployment alone. It examines how renewable energy reshapes economies, energy systems, governance, equity and environmental outcomes.

How the Framework was developed

1. Building the evidence base

2. Global consultation and prioritisation

3. Multi-stakeholder refinement

4. Internal consolidation and gap identification

5. External review and validation

What the Tracker Measures

Indicator Framework

Key Data Gaps Identified

A core objective of the first edition of the RBE Tracker is to identify areas where global monitoring, methodologies and comparable datasets remain limited. These gaps represent priority areas for future evidence development.

Built through crowd-sourced and crowd-owned data and insights

The RBE Hub is shaped by researchers, governments, industry associations and civil society organisations contributing data, analysis and expertise from around the world.