Low-carbon energy investment hit record $2.1 tn in 2024: report

Investment worldwide was up 11 percent on 2023 with China accounting for two-thirds of the increase, far eclipsing spending in Europe and the United States, according to the Energy Transition Investment Trends 2025 report.

Electric vehicles, renewable energy and power grids all attracted record investment last year, BNEF found.

"Our report shows just how much growth we've seen in the energy transition over the past few years, despite political uncertainty and high interest rates," said Albert Cheung, deputy chief of BNEF, adding that much more needs to be done.

BNEF found that global energy transition investment would need to average $5.6 trillion each year from 2025 to 2030, to get the world decarbonising fast enough to meet the Paris climate deal's targets.

On that front, China is closest to being on track, BNEF said, followed by Germany and the UK.

China accounted for $818 billion of investment last year, up 20 percent from 2023, according to the analysis, with all sectors reviewed "showing solid growth".

The country's total investment was bigger than the US, EU and UK combined, BNEF said.

Last year the International Energy Agency said nearly $2 trillion in investments were flowing annually into clean energy projects, nearly double the amount spent on fossil fuel supplies.

Its World Energy Outlook report said that more than half of the world's electricity will be generated by low-emission sources before 2030, with demand for oil, gas and coal still projected to peak by the end of the decade.