It found that while adoption of solar, wind and electric vehicles has been booming in recent years, the amount of investment needs to triple for a realistic chance of meeting net-zero by 2050.
The report also showed that even as deployments of solar and wind rise, the world’s consumption of coal also grew strongly this year, pushing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions towards their second largest annual increase in history.
“The world’s hugely encouraging clean energy momentum is running up against the stubborn incumbency of fossil fuels in our energy systems,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol.
“Governments need to resolve this at COP26 by giving a clear and unmistakeable signal that they are committed to rapidly scaling up the clean and resilient technologies of the future. The social and economic benefits of accelerating clean energy transitions are huge, and the costs of inaction are immense.”
The report found that even if almost all of the net growth...