The energy transition is accelerating on the investment and deployment side (renewables, grids, electrified transport), while emissions are still setting new highs in many places due to rising electricity demand and continued fossil use.
Global energy transition investment:$2.3T in 2025 (record). The biggest drivers were electrified transport ($893B), renewable energy ($690B), and grid investment ($483B).
Global energy transition investment:$2.1T in 2024 (up 11% year over year).
Global clean energy investment (IEA): about $2T in 2024, with total energy investment set to exceed $3T in 2024.
Renewables share of global electricity:32% in 2024 (up from 30% in 2023).
Renewable power capacity additions:585 GW added in 2024, lifting global renewable capacity to 4,448 GW.
Energy-related CO2 emissions:37.8 Gt in 2024 (+0.8% year over year).
Electric car sales:17M+ sold in 2024, reaching 20%+ of global new-car sales.
Global Energy Transition Investment
Energy transition investment (as tracked by BloombergNEF) moved from a 2023 record to an even higher level in 2024, and then reached a new peak in 2025. The headline story is scale: electrified transport, renewables, and grids now dominate the annual totals.
Chart: Global Energy Transition Investment (2023–2025)
Label
Bar
Value
2023
$1.77T
2024
$2.10T
2025
$2.30T
Max = 2.30. Widths: 2023 76.96%, 2024 91.30%, 2025 100.00%.
Electricity Mix Momentum
Electricity is the center of gravity for the transition because it’s where renewable deployment is fastest and where new demand is piling in (cooling, EVs, data centers, electrified heat). In 2024, renewables hit a new record share of global generation.
Chart: Global Electricity Generation Share (2024)
Label
Bar
Value
Coal
34%
Renewables
32%
Gas
22%
Nuclear
9%
Max = 34. Widths: Coal 100.00%, Renewables 94.12%, Gas 64.71%, Nuclear 26.47%.
Renewables Deployment: Capacity Additions
Renewable buildout continues to break records. IRENA reported 585 GW of new renewable power capacity in 2024 (a record annual increase), following 473 GW added in 2023.
Chart: Global Renewable Power Capacity Additions
Label
Bar
Value
2023
473 GW
2024
585 GW
Max = 585. Widths: 2023 80.85%, 2024 100.00%.
Electrification: EVs and Heat Demand
Electrification keeps pulling demand forward. The IEA reported that electric car sales exceeded 17 million in 2024, reaching more than 20% of global new-car sales. On the system side, the IEA also reported that global electricity demand rose 4.3% in 2024, with industry accounting for a large share of the growth and transport electricity use rising as EV adoption increased.
Emissions Reality Check
Despite rapid scaling of clean technologies, global emissions are not yet in sustained decline. The IEA estimated that energy-related CO2 emissions increased 0.8% in 2024 to a new high of 37.8 Gt CO2. The same analysis notes that rapid deployment of clean technologies is limiting emissions growth compared with a world without those additions.
BloombergNEF (Jan 26, 2026). Energy Transition Investment Trends 2026 press release ($2.3T in 2025). https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-energy/bloombergnef-finds-global-energy-transition-investment-reached-record-2-3-trillion-in-2025-up-8-from-2024/
International Energy Agency (Jun 6, 2024). World Energy Investment 2024 (overview/key findings; PDF). https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-investment-2024 and https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/d829545d-fab6-4c98-b266-28556d86ce8d/WorldEnergyInvestment2024.pdf
International Energy Agency (Mar 24, 2025). Global Energy Review 2025 (electricity demand and CO2 emissions pages). https://www.iea.org/reports/global-energy-review-2025/electricity and https://www.iea.org/reports/global-energy-review-2025/co2-emissions
International Energy Agency (May 14, 2025). Global EV Outlook 2025 (electric car sales in 2024; 17M+ and 20%+ share). https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2025
International Renewable Energy Agency (Mar 27, 2024). Renewable Capacity Statistics 2024 press release (2023 additions and totals). https://www.irena.org/News/pressreleases/2024/Mar/Record-Growth-in-Renewables-but-Progress-Needs-to-be-Equitable
International Renewable Energy Agency (Apr 17, 2025). Renewables in 2024: 5 key facts (585 GW added; 4,448 GW total). https://www.irena.org/News/articles/2025/Apr/Renewables-in-2024-5-Key-Facts-Behind-a-Record-Breaking-Year
Reuters (Apr 7, 2025). Ember Global Electricity Review: renewables share 32% in 2024; coal 34%, gas 22%, nuclear 9%. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/renewables-provided-record-32-global-electricity-2024-ember-says-2025-04-07/
