KABUL (BNA) Investment in solar power is expected to overtake oil for the first time this year as clean energy spending outpaces that for fossil fuels.
While that is a welcome development, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned on Thursday investment in fossil fuels is rising when it should be falling fast to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Annual investment in clean energy is expected to rise by 24 percent from 2021 to more than $1.7 trillion in 2023, according to the IEA. The gain for fossil fuels was 15 percent over the same period.
The low price of solar power generation will help propel decarbonisation efforts as electric car adoption gathers pace. But the rebound in oil and gas investment, which is expected to return to 2019 levels this year, puts the industry further away from the IEA’s 2050 net zero trajectory.
The IEA says overall 2023 fossil fuel investment is expected to be more than double the amount the sector should be spending in 2030. For coal, it could hit six times the amount.
Bakhtar
