Green Finance Engagement Team
Global clean energy investments must more than double to US$4.5 trillion annually by 2030 to meet climate goals. This new series explores how green finance can drive this transition, examining investment gaps, regional disparities, and solutions for a sustainable future.
The global energy transition is one of the most significant challenges—and opportunities—of our time. As countries strive to meet climate goals, the need to shift away from fossil fuels toward clean and sustainable energy systems has never been more urgent.
But this transition comes with a price tag: meeting global energy and climate targets will require unprecedented investment.
Drawing from the International Energy Agency’s flagship World Energy Outlook and related research, the first post in this blog series introduces the investment landscape of energy transition and sets the stage for exploring how green finance can drive progress in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and electrification.
What This Series Will Cover
In this blog series, we’ll explore how green finance can address the most pressing challenges of the energy transition, including:
- Closing the investment gap in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs)
- Scaling renewable energy deployment and modernising energy infrastructure
- Financing energy efficiency improvements and electrification
- Supporting emerging technologies like clean hydrogen and carbon capture
- Ensuring a just and equitable transition that leaves no one behind
The Energy Transition in Numbers
Global energy transition investment reached a record US$2.1 trillion in 2024, driven by electrified transport, renewable energy, and power grids, according to BNEF’s Energy Transition Investment Trends 2025 report released at the end of January.
However, to align with the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) pathway, annual global clean energy investments need to reach US$4.5 trillion by 2030, according to the World Energy Outlook.
Investment in emerging technologies like hydrogen and carbon capture fell by 23 per cent year-on-year to US$155 billion in 2024, highlighting the need for more public and private sector collaboration to de-risk these sectors, according to the BNEF report
Regional disparities also remain in terms of energy transition investments. China accounted for US$818 billion of global energy transition investment last year, while the US and EU saw stagnant or declining investment levels of US$338 billion and US$381 billion respectively. This underscores the need for more equitable distribution of resources to support global decarbonisation efforts.
Key Takeaways:
- Global clean energy investment must reach US$4.5 trillion annually by 2030
- Current investment of US$2.1 trillion, while record-breaking, falls short
- Regional disparities in investment need addressing for effective transition
A Call to Action
The energy transition is achievable, but the clock is ticking. Governments, financial institutions, and private investors must act decisively to mobilise the funding needed to build a sustainable future.
In our next post, we’ll dive into the regional disparities in clean energy investment and explore how green finance can address these inequities. Stay tuned as we continue this journey through the transformative power of green finance.
