According to the International Energy Agency, less than 15% of the $ 2.4 trillion in government spending to support post-pandemic economic recovery has gone to clean energy investments.
“It’s a good start,” said Fatih Birol, IEA executive director, “but the money is not enough” to put the world on the path to net zero emissions by 2050.
The majority of the $ 380 billion in green spending occurs in advanced economies, while it is expected to help accelerate the transition to clean energy in emerging countries.
Governments have committed $ 16 trillion in total budget support, but much has gone to strengthening financial markets to stabilize their economies.
About 15% was spent on stimulating economic growth through job creation in order to reach pre-pandemic levels as quickly as possible.
Spending hundreds of billions of dollars more on clean energy isn’t as huge as it looks.
On Tuesday, research by BloombergNEF and Bloomberg Philanthropies found that the G-20 countries spent $ 3.3 trillion to subsidize coal, oil and gas between 2015 and 2019.
Lack of sufficient green spending means global emissions could surpass their 2018 peak as early as 2023.
To prevent global temperatures from exceeding 1.5 ° C, the world must halve its emissions by the end of the decade compared to 2018.
Ahead of the global climate talks in Glasgow in November, Birol said it was important to ensure emerging economies have the funds to finance their economic recovery through clean energy spending. “Without the international financial institutions playing the role of catalyst, the money will not go where it is needed,” he said.