Only 2% of the pandemic recovery spending is going to clean energy

“Since the COVID-19 crisis erupted, many governments may have talked about the importance of building back better for a cleaner future, but many of them are yet to put their money where their mouth is,” Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, said in a statement. “Despite increased climate ambitions, the amount of economic recovery funds being spent on clean energy is just a small sliver of the total.”

A range of new funding is planned, from subsidies for electric cars and chargers in Japan to incentives for off-grid solar installations in Nigeria; most of the money is being channeled through existing programs. Advanced economies have committed more funding than developing countries, which focused their recovery plans more on emergency relief. But in total, the plans aren’t sufficient.

Early in the pandemic, the IEA released a report that suggested that governments should mobilize $1 trillion in recovery spending for clean energy programs over the next few years, which could create millions of jobs, boost the economy, improve air pollution and health, and help tackle climate goals. But under current plans, by 2023, public and private spending on clean energy is expected to reach only around $350 billion. If all of the plans that have been announced move forward, emissions will reach record levels in 2023—3.5 billion tons more than would have happened under the IEA’s recommended plan. And then they’d keep growing. But it’s still possible to change course. Birol says that the path to net-zero emissions by 2050 “is narrow but still achievable – if we act now.”