Clean energy investment growth too slow: IEA

The IEA said today that the $750bn of investments that it projects will roll into clean energy technologies and efficiency this year is "far below" what is needed.

"Clean energy investment would need to triple in the 2020s to put the world on track to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, thereby keeping the door open for a 1.5C degree stabilisation of the rise in global temperatures," the agency said in its latest World Energy Investment report.

It expects an overall 10pc year on year rise in global energy investments, to $1.9 trillion, reversing most of last year's pandemic-inspired drop and with a continuing shift towards electricity.

This year is on course to be the sixth year in a row that investment in the power sector exceeds that in traditional oil and gas supply, the IEA said, noting that it projected 8pc rise in upstream oil and gas investment, to $350bn, still keeps this below the level seen before Covid-19.

"The majors are holding oil and gas spending flat on aggregate in 2021, despite recovering prices," the IEA said. "Meanwhile, some national oil companies are stepping up investment, raising the possibility of increased market share if demand continues to grow."

It also said that while last year only around 1pc of capital spending by the oil and gas industry was in clean energy investments, this could rise to 4pc this year globally and "well above 10pc for some of the leading European companies".

It expects global power sector investments to increase by around 5pc this year, to a record of more than $820bn. Of the $530bn to be spent on new generation capacity, renewables will account for 70pc.

"That money now goes further than ever in financing clean electricity, with a dollar spent on solar PV deployment today resulting in four times more electricity than 10 years ago, thanks to greatly improved technology and falling costs," the IEA said.

But it noted that "coal is not out of the picture", and expects a 9pc year-on-year rise in investment after a steeper fall last year.

By Konstantin Rozhnov