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PRESS RELEASE
Global Renewable Energy Investment Hit USD 807
Billion in 2024
Record
investment in renewables, but growth pace slows to 7.3%
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Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates, 217 November 2025 - Global
investments in the energy transition reached a new record of USD
2.4 trillion in 2024 – a 20% increase from the average annual
levels of 2022/23. About one-third was directed towards renewable
energy technologies, pushing renewable energy investment to USD 807
billion.
Despite this milestone, year-on-year growth of renewables slowed
significantly, with annual investments increasing by 7.3% in 2024,
compared to 32% the year before, a new report by the International
Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Climate Policy Initiative
(CPI) finds.
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Global Landscape of Energy Transition Finance 2025
was released ahead of the UN Climate Conference COP30 in Belém,
Brazil. It aims to inform the global finance dialogue and support
delegations by tracking investments in renewable energy
technologies and their supply chains, looking at regional trends as
well as finance sources and instruments.
Key findings:
• 96% of renewable energy investments went to the power
sector, continuing a long-term trend.
• Global investment in solar PV hit a record with USD
554 billion in 2024, up by 49%.
• Investment in renewable power, grids, and battery
storage exceeded fossil fuels investment in 2024, though fossil
spending is on the rise.
• Investment in energy transition technologies grew globally,
but 90% remained concentrated in advanced economies and China,
leaving emerging and developing countries behind.
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Francesco
La Camera, Director-General of IRENA said: “Investments in energy
transition continue to grow but not at the pace needed to achieve
the global goal of tripling renewable capacity by 2030. Funding for
renewables is soaring but remains highly concentrated in the most
advanced economies. As countries gather at COP30 to advance the
‘Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3 trillion’, scaling finance for
emerging and developing countries is essential to make the
transition truly inclusive and global.”
IRENA’s report shows advanced and major economies can draw on
domestic financial resources to fund energy transitions. In
contrast, lower-income countries depend on external support due to
underdeveloped financial markets, limited fiscal capacity, high capital
costs, and debt vulnerabilities amongst others.
Globally, nearly half of total investment in 2023 was provided as
debt, most of it at market rates. The rest was invested through
equity. Grants accounted for less than 1%. The urgent need to
mobilise investments, combined with a scarcity of impact-driven
capital such as low-cost debt and grants, risks exacerbating debt
burdens.
Mr. Francesco La Camera added: “IRENA has long called for smarter
use of public funds to unlock private investment through
risk-mitigation tools. Yet the heavy reliance on profit-driven
capital is leaving developing countries behind. Where private
finance won’t flow, the public sector must lead, backed by stronger
multilateral and bilateral cooperation and scaled-up climate finance.”
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IRENA’s
new report also highlights that investment in energy transition
supply chains and manufacturing remains critical, but highly
concentrated. China accounts for 80% of global investment in
manufacturing facilities for solar, wind, battery and hydrogen
technologies between 2018 and 2024. Positively, new factories are
emerging outside advanced economies and China expanding energy
security and socio-economic benefits of the transition to other
developing economies.
Overall, global investment in factories producing solar, wind,
battery and hydrogen fell by 21% to USD 102 billion in 2024, driven
by a significant drop in investments for solar PV manufacturing. In
contrast, battery factory investment nearly doubled to USD 74
billion, reflecting rising demand for storage in grids, electric
vehicles (EVs) and data centres.
Foreign direct investment, through joint ventures, technology
partnerships and knowledge sharing, will be vital to strengthen
international cooperation and expand energy transition
manufacturing in emerging and developing economies, including
through South-South collaboration.
In addition, dedicated policies are needed to ensure these
activities are undertaken in a socially and environmentally
sustainable manner and that their benefits are shared equitably.
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IRENA's and
CPI's joint report calls for scaling up financial flows to
emerging and developing countries at speed
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About the International Renewable Energy Agency
(IRENA)
IRENA is the lead intergovernmental agency for the
renewables-based energy transition in pursuit of a systemic change
across the energy sectors. A global energy agency comprised of
170 countries and the EU, with 14 additional countries in
accession, IRENA provides knowledge, technical assistance and
capacity building, project and investment facilitation. The Agency
enables international cooperation and partnerships to fight climate
change and promote sustainable development, energy access, energy
security and resilient economies and societies.
Contact
information:
Nicole
Bockstaller, Chief, Communications Officer, IRENA, nbockstaller@irena.org;
+971 2 417 9951
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