Overcoming barriers to international investment in clean energy

Most of us would agree that clean energy is a worthwhile goal, and the world has invested more than USD 2 trillion on renewable-energy plants in the past decade. In 2014, energy generators added more renewable capacity than even before. But are we doing enough? According to the IEA World Energy Investment Outlook 2014, cumulative investment in low-carbon energy supply and energy efficiency will need to reach USD 53 trillion by 2035 to keep global warming to 2°C. It sounds a lot, and it is, but it’s only 10% more than the USD 48 trillion that would likely need to be invested in any case in the energy sector if the economy continues to expand and demand for power continues to grow as it has been doing in recent decades.