Global renewable energy capacity reached record levels in 2016, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said here Thursday, citing a new UN-backed report.

"This surge happened in spite of a drop of 23 percent in investment in clean technology, whose costs are continuing to fall," Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

The proportion of electricity coming from renewables rose from 10.3 percent to 11.3 percent, he said, adding that this prevented the emission of an estimated 1.7 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide.

The proportion of electricity coming from wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, small hydro and marine sources rose from 10 percent in 2015 to 11 percent in 2016, preventing the emission of an estimated 1.7 gigatons of carbon dioxide, he added.

Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat, which are renewable or naturally replenished.

Renewable energy technologies range from solar power, wind power, hydroelectricity/micro hydro, biomass and biofuels for transportation.

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