A surge in annual investment to USD 4 trillion in clean energy projects and infrastructure is required by 2030 to meet the Paris Agreement pledge to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2021 report.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) report highlights some developing economies financing such projects, citing India's expansion of solar panels, but also mentions "persistent challenges, many of which have been exacerbated by the pandemic.

The report provides an insight to the opportunities, benefits and risks ahead at this vital moment for clean energy transitions.

The report observes that a new global energy economy is emerging but the transformation still has a long way to go.

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In this context it states that in 2020, even while economies bent under the weight of Covid-19 lockdowns, renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar PV continued to grow rapidly, and electric vehicles set new sales records. However, at the moment, every data point showing the speed of change in energy can be countered by another showing the stubbornness of the status quo, the report points out.

The IEA report has been issued ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference, or COP26, which will take place in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12.

The UN climate conference, which was cancelled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will seek to speed up the implementation of the Paris Agreement that aims to bring annual global temperature increase to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius.