Investment in clean energy globally in 2025 was $2.2 trillion, that is, over two times higher than investments in fossil fuels. Whether the transition is viable or not is no longer in question. What matters now is the speed at which the appropriate financing, policy framework and grid investment can be delivered.
Installation data from recent years shows that the rollout of renewable energy technology is proceeding faster than forecasts had anticipated. And Asia is the place where the clean energy transformation is taking place the fastest. In 2025, 74% of the total new renewable capacity added globally was in Asia, with 513 GW of additions increasing at 21.6% annually.
- CHINA accounts for the largest share of the Asian growth. In 2024 China reached its 2030 wind and solar target six years ahead of schedule, and in early 2025, China’s combined wind and solar capacity surpassed its total thermal power capacity for the first time.
- INDIA in 2024, invested around $100 billion in clean energy, placing it among the world’s largest clean energy investors. In 2025, India also crossed a major milestone by surpassing 50% of installed electricity capacity from non‑fossil fuel sources, five years ahead of its Paris‑Agreement target.
- LATIN AMERICA‘s major hydroelectric capacity has seen the region already producing 65% of its electricity from clean sources, which is far more than the world average of 41%. Solar and wind power supply over 40% of power in Chile, and In 2024 alone, wind and solar generation in Brazil grew by 36 TWh. Under the REnewables in Latin America and the Caribbean (RELAC) initiative member states have set a region‑wide target of at least 70% renewable electricity by 2030, although grid integration and access to finance remain key constraints.
- AFRICA holds the starkest contrast between potential and deployment. The continent possesses an estimated 60% of the world’s best solar potential as measured by solar irradiance and 1,300 GW of high-wind capacity, yet it accounts for just 1% of global installed solar PV. Despite this, the continent recorded its highest-ever annual renewable capacity increase in 2025, adding 11.3 GW continent-wide, driven by Ethiopia, South Africa and Egypt. The barriers are structural: project financing is difficult to secure at scale, grid infrastructure is fragmented, and policy frameworks vary widely across the continent. Closing that gap is among the most urgent and least resourced challenges in the global energy transition.
- EUROPEAN UNION has restructured its energy supply considerably since abandoning Russian natural gas. In 2024, renewables generated 50% of the European Union’s total electricity, while fossil fuels fell to just over 25% of the electricity generation mix. Grid permitting delays and the increased dependence on liquefied natural gas imports remain significant challenges.
- UNITED STATES in 2025 clean energy accounted for more than 90% of new electricity capacity, and in March 2026 renewables briefly became the largest source of US power generation, surpassing natural gas for the first time on a monthly basis. But renewables momentum is hitting a political wall, with concerted attacks on renewable energy by the Trump regime triggering the delay or cancellation of over $14 billion in renewable projects.
The trend however is undeniable – the world installed 692 gigawatts of new renewable capacity in 2025, pushing the total global renewable power to over 5,149 gigawatts – nearly half of all installed power capacity on Earth.
Source: Edited from Earth Org, May 11, 2026. https://earth.org/5-clean-energy-myths-the-data-has…
