The latest issue of SEB’s The Green Bond report concludes that as the investment gap between clean and fossil energy is widening and the electrification of energy users is spreading, international climate targets are within reach.

The optimistic conclusion is tempered with the acknowledgement that carbon removal is now unavoidable to limit global warming to below 2C according to the IPCC.

The report notes that the first quarter of 2023 saw a 50 per cent jump in renewable energy investment in the EMEA region, reaching the highest level in three years. Meanwhile, more than $150bn in domestic utility-scale clean energy investments have been announced during the first eight months since the US Inflation Reduction Act was passed in August last year.

“China still leads, but a surge in Western clean-energy investment is underway and several energy-using sectors are close to tipping points,” said Thomas Thygesen, head of research, climate and sustainable finance, at SEB.

Thygesen also expects global clean energy investment to double by 2025 and again by 2030. “This means we are very close to a peak in global fossil energy consumption and still have a realistic chance to complete the transition by 2050,” he added.

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