Global investment in the energy transition grew by 8% to a record $2.3 trillion last year, according to BloombergNEF, defying fears that the shifting political landscape and economic uncertainty would halt the world’s clean energy progress. Yet there are signs that while investments are increasing, they’re not doing so fast enough to accelerate the energy transition at the speed needed.
About $1.2 trillion of that poured into renewable energy and power grids, both of which play a vital role in serving rising electricity demand from data centers, a new report found. Electrified transportation, which includes electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, also attracted $893 billion last year, thanks in large part to strong growth in Asia and Europe.
“This past year has showcased that despite policy and trade headwinds, the global energy transition is resilient and provides a number of opportunities for investors,” said Albert Cheung, deputy chief executive officer at BloombergNEF. “As many economies look to strengthen energy security and build domestic supply chains, clean energy investment will continue to rise, especially as it relates to global data center buildouts.”
The Asia Pacific region — led by China, India and Japan — was responsible for nearly half of all global spending on energy transition technologies in 2025, according to the report. Meanwhile, the European Union invested $455 billion, representing an 18% increase year over year. Growth was slower in the U.S., where President Trump has dialed back government support for many clean technologies and thrown up roadblocks to renewable energy deployment, but the country still saw $378 billion in green investment, up 3.5% compared to 2024.
Capital poured into clean energy at a record rate last year at the same time that global investments in fossil fuel supply fell, dragged down by shrinking spending on upstream oil and gas operations, as well as fossil power generation. That marks the first drop since 2020.
There are some warning signs about the speed and scale of clean tech funding. Despite huge amounts of capital flowing in, global renewable energy investment dropped 9.5% year-on-year in 2025 as China’s regulatory reform dampened activity in the world’s largest market. The policy change also led to China’s first decline in energy transition investment since 2013, though the country still outspent any other nation in green funding.
Worldwide, investment in hydrogen also slid last year, as did funding for nuclear energy despite the surge of interest from tech companies seeking round-the-clock power for data centers.
And while energy transition investment climbed to an all-time high, it grew at a slower pace than in recent years. The gain in 2025 was the first year of single-digit growth since 2019, according to the report. That puts the world well behind the spending needed to reach net zero. BNEF projects investments will need to hit $5.2 trillion annually for the rest of the decade and rise even further after that to avert the worst impacts of climate change.
Liu writes for Bloomberg.
