These are the top 10 countries by energy transition investment
来源：World Economic Forum;发表于:2022-02-18;人气指数:415
These are
the top 10 countries by energy transition investment
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/02/ranked-10-countries-energy-transition-investment/
Renewables accounted
for nearly 50% of total investment in 2021.
Image: Unsplash/ Anna
Jiménez Calaf
15 Feb 2022
Govind Bhutada
Author, Visual
Capitalist
*Achieving net-zero
on a global scale is expected to cost around $125 trillion in climate
investment.
*While that level of
investment hasn’t been achieved yet, it’s ramping up.
*In 2021, the world
spent $755 billion on deploying low-carbon energy technologies, up 27% from the
year prior.
*China increased its
overall energy transition investment by 60% from 2020 levels, further cementing
its position as a global leader.
The top 10 countries
account for 74% of global energy transition investment.
Image: Visual
Capitalist
More than 130
countries have set or are considering a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
Achieving net-zero on
a global scale, however, requires $125 trillion in climate investment
by 2050, according to research commissioned by the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
While that level of
investment hasn’t been achieved yet, it’s ramping up. In 2021, the world
spent $755 billion on deploying low-carbon energy technologies,
up 27% from the year prior.
This graphic
highlights the top 10 countries by low-carbon energy investment in 2021 using
data from BloombergNEF.
Energy transition
investment by country
The top 10 countries
together invested $561 billion in the energy transition, nearly three-fourths of
the world total.
China's investment
surpassed a quarter of a trillion USD.
Image: Visual
Capitalist
China increased its
overall energy transition investment by 60% from 2020 levels, further
cementing its position as a global leader. The country’s wind and solar capacity increased by
19% in 2021, with electrified transport also accounting for a large portion of
the investment.
Next, the U.S.
invested $114 billion in clean energy last year, up 17% from 2020.
Several European countries also made the top 10 list, with Germany, U.K., and
France rounding out the top five. In total, European countries invested $219
billion in the energy transition.
Which low-carbon
technologies are attracting investment?
While the top 10
countries provide an overview of where investments are being made, it’s also
interesting to see which sectors are seeing the biggest influxes of capital.
Here’s a breakdown of
energy transition investment by sector in 2021:
China increased its
overall energy transition investment by 60% from 2020 levels.
Image: Visual
Capitalist
Renewables accounted
for nearly 50% of total investment in 2021. However, electrified
transport drove much of the growth as several countries charged ahead in
the shift to electric vehicles.
Nuclear power also
racked up roughly $32 billion in investments, as conviction grows
that it can deliver reliable, carbon-free electricity. But the biggest overall
percentage gain was seen in sustainable materials including recycling and
bioplastics, which saw investment activity more than double in 2021.
Given that the dawn
of clean energy is still in its early hours, technologies in the sector are
constantly evolving. As the race to net-zero continues, which energy
technologies will draw even more investment in the future?