Global
investment in renewable energy up 10% on 2024 despite Trump rollback
Growth
rate slightly lower than previous first-half years but sector still strong and
resilient, experts say
Fiona
Harvey Environment editor
Tue 23
Sep 2025 08.00 BST
Investment
in renewable energy has continued to increase around the world despite moves by
Donald Trump’s White House to cancel and derail low-carbon projects.
In the
first half of 2025, investment globally in renewable technologies and projects
reached a record $386bn, up by about 10% on the same period last year.
Investment
in energy around the world is likely to hit about $3.3 trillion (£2.4tn) this
year. While more than $1tn of the total is still likely to flow into fossil
fuels, double that amount – about $2.2tn – is expected for low-carbon forms of
energy.
A report
from the Zero Carbon Analytics thinktank, published on Tuesday, shows that the
rate of increase in renewable energy investment has not slowed significantly.
Between the first half of 2023 and of 2024, the total increased by 12% and from
2022 to 2023 the increase was 17%.
Joanne
Bentley-McKune, research analyst at the group, said: “This shows the sector
still has momentum and underlying strength. There has been a decline [in the
rate of growth] but it aligns with the average [of the last three years], and
suggests that renewable energy investment is more resilient than might have
been expected.”
Finance
for onshore and offshore wind increased by about a quarter in this first half
of this year, reaching £126bn. China and Europe were the biggest markets for
offshore wind.
Since
January this year, at least $470bn in future clean energy finance has been
announced, according to the report, of which roughly three-quarters is slated
for energy grids and electricity transmission. This is good news for
governments hoping to reach their commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions,
as ageing and inadequate grids have been a major bottleneck for the achievement
of renewable energy goals.
A
separate report, also published on Tuesday, found that big companies are also
continuing to press ahead with their climate promises, despite hostility from
Donald Trump’s administration in the US, and some high-profile moves to row
back on commitments.
According
to data compiled by the Net Zero Tracker, a research consortium made up of
thinktanks and academics, companies representing about 70% of the revenue of
the top 2,000 listed companies globally were actively pursuing net zero plans.
While
Trump has pulled the US out of the Paris climate agreement, and dismantled
federal efforts to tackle the climate crisis, not all of the US has followed
the federal government’s lead: 19 states remain committed to net zero, and 304
large companies headquartered in the US have net zero targets, up from 279 last
year. Together, those companies account for nearly two-thirds of US corporate
revenue, or about $12tn in revenue globally.
John
Lang, lead author of the report, said the impact of the White House on climate
decisions made by large companies appeared limited. “Talk of a net zero
recession is overblown. Backtracking is confined to fossil fuels and their
financiers, while more companies are moving from box-ticking to real emission
cuts – a long-overdue reset,” he said.
But
countries and companies still need to move faster, the report found. Although
more are now putting measures in place to match their commitments, there is
still a large gap between aspiration and action.
Thomas
Hale, professor of global public policy at the Blavatnik School of Government
at Oxford University, said: “US companies know they need to keep pace with the
EU, China and other regions where climate policy is increasingly shaping
competitiveness. Net zero is less a political battleground and more a race to
secure future markets, investment and jobs.”
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