Spending on clean energy was $1.8 trillion globally, less than what is needed to get net zero emissions. As countries stepped up their efforts to tackle climate change, global investment in the clean energy transition surged to previously unheard-of heights, hitting $1.8 trillion in 2023, according to a BloombergNEF analysis.
But even with this enormous investment, more money must be needed to reach a net-zero emissions trajectory. Because this year is predicted to be much hotter than the last, the research highlights how urgent it is to solve climate change.
The overall amount spent increased by 17%, including investments in clean technology, electric cars, hydrogen production systems, and renewable energy installations. Including the $900 billion in finance and the monies set aside for developing clean-energy supply chains, the total funding in 2023 came to about $2.8 trillion.
Spending on clean technologies has been increasing, but a significant increase in funding is still required. According to the analysis, the world should invest more than twice as much in clean technology to reach net-zero emissions by the middle of the century.
According to estimates, annual global spending on the energy transition should exceed $4.8 trillion between 2024 and 2030 to achieve a net-zero pathway. This emphasizes the need for governments to increase their efforts, as investments must increase by 170% to achieve the net-zero goal.
With $676 billion in spending in 2023, China remains the largest market, albeit at a relatively slow 6% growth rate from 2022. As opposed to this, investments in the US, UK, and Europe grew strongly, totalling $718 billion after increases of at least 22%. Strong sales of electric vehicles in the UK and incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark US climate law, also contributed to this development.
Power grid investments totalled $310 billion, while spending on electric vehicles increased by 36% to $634 billion, surpassing that of renewable energy, which increased by 8% to $623 billion. Delivering renewable electricity from new wind and solar farms depends heavily on these systems.
New technologies also grew quickly; investments in hydrogen tripled to $10.4 billion, indicating increasing interest in clean energy alternatives. The world’s clean energy investment curve is steep, implying that sustained work is needed to reach the problematic net-zero emissions goal even with such rapid development.
