2022 is the first year on record that global low-carbon investments matched fossil fuel funding, says BloombergNEF
The world has reached a major tipping point in the transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy: 2022 was the first year global investments in low-carbon technologies matched spending on the fossil fuel industry.
That data comes from BloombergNEF, whose Energy Transition Investment Trends report was released today. In it, BNEF said low-carbon and fossil fuel investments each totaled $1.1 trillion in 2022.
For the low-carbon power sector, in which BNEF includes “renewable energy, energy storage, electrified transport, electrified heat, carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen and sustainable materials,” that $1.1 trillion is a year-over-year increase of 31 percent. That’s alongside data showing that fossil fuel investments also rose in 2022, BNEF said.
According to BNEF Head of Global Analysis Albert Cheung, those findings show that transitions to cleaner energy sources are here to stay. “Businesses continue to execute on transition plans,” Cheung said, “investment in clean energy technologies is on the brink of overtaking fossil fuel investments, and won’t look back,” he predicted.
BNEF said that renewable energies, which includes wind, solar and biofuels, received the most investments with $495 billion flowing into related projects. Electrified transportation investments, which includes vehicle spending and new infrastructure, grew by 54 percent last year and nearly matched investments in renewables, BNEF said.
