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The yearly $1.9-trillion being invested currently on clean energy would have to more than double and be more evenly distributed to place the world on track to meet net-zero emissions by 2050, a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report confirms.
However, it also stresses that such investments could reduce the operating costs of the global energy system by more than half over the next decade, resulting in greater affordability for consumers.
"Capital investment is only one part of the picture," the 'Strategies for Affordable and Fair Clean Energy Transitions' report asserts.
"Running today's energy system - including paying off investments and financing costs, and operating expenditure - costs over $7-trillion annually," it adds, cautioning that these expenses are poised to rise in future.
In addition, governments worldwide collectively spent around $620-billion in 2023 subsidising the use of fossil fuels, eclipsing the $70-billion spent on support for consumer-facing clean energy investments.
The IEA states that, in many cases, clean energy technologies are already more cost competitive over their lifespans than those reliant on conventional fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil.
Solar PV and wind are the cheapest options for new generation and even when electric vehicles have higher upfront costs, they typically result in savings owing to lower operating expenses, as is the case for the lifetime costs of energy efficient appliances such as air conditioners.
"The benefits of a faster energy transition and growing shares of renewables - such as solar and wind, which have lower operating costs than fossil fuel alternatives - would filter down to consumers."
The report also argues that retail electricity prices are typically less volatile than oil product prices, providing more predictable costs. A factor that is set to be reinforced as electricity overtakes oil as the leading fuel source in final consumption, with the IEA forecasting that milestone by 2035.
"Overall, our analysis finds that clean energy transitions deliver a lower-cost and more affordable energy system over time," the report states.
Realising such gains, however, hinges on unlocking higher levels of upfront investment, especially in emerging and developing economies where clean energy investments are lagging.
"Policy intervention will be crucial to address the stark inequalities that already exist in the current energy system, where affordable and sustainable energy technologies are out of reach for many people.
"The most fundamental inequities are faced by the almost 750-million people in emerging and developing economies who lack access to electricity, and the more than two-billion people without clean cooking technologies and fuels.
"At the same time, the poorest 10% of households in advanced economies spend up to a quarter of their disposable income on energy for their home and transport, even though they consume less than half as much energy as the richest 10%."

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The Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) is currently assessing the impact of South Africa's decision to delay the decommissioning of the Hendrina, Grootvlei and Camden coal-fired power stations on the country's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), which outlines the country's decarbonisation goals.
Eskom confirmed recently that Cabinet and board permission had been granted for the continued operation of the three power stations beyond their original decommissioning dates, owing to the ongoing shortage of supply and delays in adding new generation.
Under the original plan, the power stations were scheduled to be retired between 2023 and 2027, following Komati's retirement in October 2022.
PCC executive director Dr Crispian Olver told delegates to a sustainable finance gathering in Sandton, being co-hosted by the International Finance Corporation and Banking Association South Africa, that the initial indications were that the delayed decommissioning would not result in an NDC breach, but that meeting the target in 2030 could be a "bit of a push".
However, he did not provide details, saying only that a report would be published soon.
Ahead of COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, South Africa lodged an NDC outlining its goal of reducing carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2-eq) emissions to between 420-million and 350-million CO2-eq tons in 2030.
It subsequently entered into a Just Energy Transition Partnership with France, Germany, the UK, the US and the European Union under which $8.5-billion in concessional and grant finance was pledged in support of South Africa's Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP).
The plan, the slow implementation of which has been criticised, outlines the $100-billion in investment needed in electricity, electric vehicles and green hydrogen by 2030 to meet the lower end of the NDC range.
Pledges to the JET-IP have since increased to $11.5-billion, with the Netherlands, Denmark, Canada, Spain and Switzerland also making commitments.
"As the climate commission we are looking long and hard at what [the delayed decommissioning] means in terms of our NDC commitments . . . [and] we will be putting a report out in the next month or so," Olver said.
He added that it was "impossible" for South Africa to retire coal capacity "in the middle of a power crisis".
In addition, having studied the decommissioning of Komati, the PCC felt that the schedule for the subsequent retirements would have to have been delayed regardless of whether Eskom and government were to complete the consultations and planning required to cushion affected workers and communities.
"We think that sequencing around Komati was completely back to front: they took a decision to decommission, then they started some half-hearted consultation, and then they did the economic diversification.
"We want to reverse that: so we want to start with consultations, then do the repurposing and diversification and only then pull the power plants off.
"That in itself is already going to push decommissioning deadlines up by four or five years.
"So, for us, this decision [to delay decommissioning] is not the make or break, it's not going to collapse our climate commitments as a country," Olver argued.
He also urged the finance community to acknowledge the "major reforms" under way in parallel, which were already having an impact on the real economy and which would require public and private funding support to be advanced and sustained.
These changes were listed as the accelerated investment in private renewables generation that had followed a reforms exempting distributed projects of any size from licensing, including those that were connected to the grid.
Besides the more than 1 400 projects that had been registered since the reform, with a combined capacity of more than 7 100 MW, Olver highlighted that ther

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The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has extended to June 17 the deadline for comment on Eskom's application to preserve and reserve grid capacity for independent power producers (IPPs) participating in public procurement processes implemented in line with Section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act (ERA).
The initial deadline was May 25.
In its submission, Eskom is seeking permission to discriminate in favour of public procurement IPP projects, at the expense of private IPP projects, arguing that such discrimination would be in the "public interest".
"Without any form of protection, public procurement programmes remain incapable of competing with the much more agile and well-funded private sector energy procurement programmes.
"Therefore, without grid preservation/reservation in favour of the public energy procurement programmes, these programmes are likely to continue failing as evidenced by the recent failure of Bid Window 6 (BW6) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme," Eskom says in its submission.
During BW6 in 2022, none of the 23 wind projects vying for 3 200 MW advanced to the preferred-bidder stage, owing to the grid capacity on which their bids were based being allocated to projects that secured grid connection budget quotes over the same capacity.
This was made possible by reforms made to Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act, which allowed private projects to proceed without a licence and which Eskom says, "resulted in an exponential increase in applications for grid connections from IPPs with private power purchase agreements".
Private IPPs, Eskom claims, are moving at a faster pace to secure grid-connection capacity compared with Section 34 IPPs, which must go through a protracted procurement process.
Although Nersa's consultation paper makes specific reference to BW7, the deadline for which has already shifted out once and appears poised to be extended again, Eskom's submission is suggestive of broader and ongoing preservation and reservation requests.
Market reaction is expected to be negative, given that it is in clear breach of the open and non-discriminatory access stipulated in legislation and the Grid Code.
In its submission, Eskom bases its public-interest justification on the argument that the continued failure of public procurement programmes will erode investor confidence, undermine government efforts to attract foreign direct investment, and frustrate ambitions related to the just energy transition and climate mitigation.

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses Eskom's application to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, seeking permission to preserve and reserve grid capacity for publicly procured IPP projects, as well as the implications should permission be granted.

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The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) reports that it registered a further 105 generation facilities during the period from January to March 2024, raising to 1 415 the number of facilities registered since the system was introduced in 2018.
In a statement, Nersa said the newly registered facilities had a combined capacity of 788 MW and a total investment value of R18.4-billion, increasing the overall capacity of registered projects to 7 158 MW and the total investment value to R131-billion.
Registrations, which have been facilitated by a liberalisation of the regulatory restrictions governing private generation, surged in 2022 and 2023, and spiked at over 2 400 MW registered in the first quarter of 2023 as loadshedding intensified. The latest quarterly registrations are more or less in line with the capacity registered in the last quarter of the 2023 calendar year.
The average investment cost for the latest batch of registered projects is R23 374/kW, Nersa said.
The 105 registrations include solar PV, a solar PV generator combined with battery energy storage, a wind turbine, cogeneration and gas, with solar PV comprising 99 of the facilities, which have a total capacity of 499 MW and an investment cost of R9.9-billion.
Nersa's Nhlanhla Gumede reiterated his concern about the high number of registered facilities not coupled with storage.
The highest number of newly registered generation facilities are in Gauteng (24), Western Cape (22) and Free State (13), with the top three provinces by capacity being the Western Cape (213 MW), Northern Cape (152 MW) and North West (142 MW).
Seventy-seven generation facilities, with a combined capacity of 664 MW, are connected to the Eskom network, while 28 generation facilities are connected to the municipal distribution network and have a capacity of 124 MW.

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Eskom Transmission CEO Segomoco Scheppers says he believes the "pieces are falling into place" that will allow the power utility to "ramp up and move faster" in expanding the country's constrained power grid.
Grid expansion will enable Eskom and independent power producers to bring much-needed new generation capacity online.
Eskom's Transmission Development Plan (TDP), issued in October 2022, comprises more than 300 projects to expand the grid. It focuses on the need for the extensive expansion of transformer capacity at substations, as well as the construction of new transmission lines, at some 14 000 km in the next ten years.
Speaking at Enlit Afria 2024, held in Cape Town this week, Scheppers said that Eskom had, however, identified 47 quick-win projects that would allow it to connect roughly 37 GW of new generation capacity.
A significant number of these - 25 - revolved around strengthening existing substations by bringing onboard new transformers.
"That programme will allow us to connect 13 000 MW of new generation," said Scheppers.
The balance of these expedited projects - 22 - was a mix of line and substation work that would allow Eskom to connect 34 000 MW of new generation capacity.
"When you look at the development of these projects, we talk about a project lifecycle-model where you conceptualise the project and the definition phase where you deal with the designs and the environmental approvals, and out of that you reach execution phase when you make the final investment decision," noted Scheppers.
"Compared with financial year 2023, when there were five projects in the definition phase, in the last financial year, that number jumped to 22 - just to put emphasis that we are driving to develop these projects to get approval and to move into execution."
"In terms of execution and actual construction and procurement…in financial year 2023 there were zero projects that went into that process from this programme," said Scheppers. "But, in the last financial year, 11 projects have gone through that programme."
Scheppers added that 14 firms had been appointed to help Eskom with the "upfront work in terms of project preparation to supplement our own skills".
He also emphasised that it was critical for Eskom that have access to "certain supplies and commodities, specifically transformers".
"We have the approvals in place to put a framework agreement in place. Of the seven or so major suppliers, two have already signed contracts, and we expect the balance to be concluded this year.
"So, access to these transformers will be readily available going forward, which will help us speed up implementation."
In terms of transmission line construction, Scheppers said Eskom had adopted an engineering, procurement and construction model, which differed from its previous approach.
"As for the matter of securing servitude, the right to construct and traverse private property and government land have been a huge challenge for the longest time," said Scheppers.
"In this regard we have successfully worked with the Department of Public Enterprises and Department of Public Works and Infrastructure to expropriate land, at market-related compensation, with exception, and where required."
Scheppers also noted that the multibillion-rand debt solution offered to Eskom, in which government had taken on R254-billion rand of the utility's debt over the medium term, had allowed the Transmission business to gain access to the necessary capital to invest in infrastructure.
"But, clearly, as we move towards being a separate company, we would need to work with the regulator to ensure we secure the revenue stream that fundamentally underpins all the investment that needs to be made."
The unbundling of Eskom into three entities will see the formation of the National Transmission Company of South Afr