As the world increasingly shifts towards clean energy sources, a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), has said clean electricity accounted for about 80 percent of new capacity additions to the world’s electricity system in 2023.
The report has also revealed that electric vehicles now account for around one out of five cars sold globally.
The report noted that this substantial increase demonstrated the growing confidence in renewable energy as a driver of economic prosperity. Global investment in clean energy manufacturing is booming, driven by industrial policies and market demand, it noted.
The IEA’s new country-by-country and sector-by-sector analysis revealed that in 2023, clean energy added about $320 billion to the world economy, which represented 10 per cent of global GDP growth.
The report revealed that the GDP in the United States (US) grew by 2.5 per cent in 2023 with clean energy an important contributor, consequently, clean energy growth accounted for around 6 per cent of GDP growth in the world’s largest economy in 2023.
The agency stressed that the clean energy sector drove a substantial share of total investment growth across the economy in the study regions in 2023 as China contributed 50 per cent of the growth in total investment in 2023, and 20 per cent in the United States.
“At the global level, we estimate that around $200 billion was invested in clean energy technology manufacturing in 2023, an increase of 75 per cent over the previous year. This compares with global capital investment in semiconductor manufacturing of around $ 170 billion to $250 billion per year in recent years.
“This analysis highlights the scale and weight of the clean energy economy. It shows that it is not only growing quickly but also has already become a powerful economic force. As energy transitions advance, clean energy’s importance for economies around the world is only set to grow further,” IEA stated.
The international agency said modernising energy and industrial systems to drive energy transitions require very large investments and the transformation of huge markets which also comes with many significant benefits beyond mitigating climate change and reducing air pollution.
