Investment in clean energy is set to outpace spending on oil production for the first time, according to the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) .
“If these clean energy investments continue to grow in line with what we have seen in the past few years … we will soon start to see a very different energy system emerging and we can keep the 1.5C goal alive,” Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, said.
The rise in clean energy investment was driven by increased affordability and energy security concerns fuelled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Overall energy spending in 2023 is projected by the IEA to reach $2.8tn, $1.7tn of which is predicted to be on renewables.
The shift to renewables is already paying off, according to IEA deputy director Mary Bruce Warlick. She estimates that the rise in global carbon dioxide emissions (0.9%) would have tripled had there not been unprecedented deployment of clean tech, especially renewables, electric vehicles and heat pumps.
Warlick highlighted the disparity in investment between dominant economies and developing or emerging economies.
“The main fault line in the fight against climate change in our view is scaling up investments all around the world in clean energy and specifically in emerging and developing economies,” she said.
The world is changing.
A major shift is taking place in global energy investment. Investors are now prioritising reducing emissions, rather than fossil fuel spending.
We need to continue building on this strong momentum. At ClearVUE.Business, we are a carbon accounting platform that helps reduce emissions by measuring carbon, consumption and costs in granular detail.
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