Worldwide investment in the low-carbon energy transition rose 11% to hit a record US$2.1 trillion in 2024, according to the annual Energy Transition Investment Trends report from BloombergNEF (BNEF). The growth was primarily driven by electrified transport, renewable energy, and power grids, which all reached new highs last year, as did energy storage investment. Investment in electrified transport, which includes electric vehicles and public charging infrastructure, reached US$757 billion in 2024, while backing for renewable energy hit US$728 billion and power grids pulled in US$390 billion. Investment in emerging technologies, such as electrified heat, hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and nuclear, only reached US$155 billion, a 23% year-on-year drop. China’s total support for energy transition increased 20%, to US$818 billion. This was greater than the combined investment of the US, EU and UK. India and Canada also added to overall global growth, increasing their investments by 13% and 19% respectively. Conversely, investment stagnated in the US at US$338 billion, while both EU and UK investments fell. “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 CEO of BNEF. “There is still much more that needs to be done, especially in emerging areas like industrial decarbonisation, hydrogen and carbon capture, in order to reach global net-zero goals. True partnership between the private and public sectors is the only solution to unlock the potential of these technologies.”
