Global renewable energy investments hit £200bn record
Worldwide investment in renewable energy hit a record £202.3 billion in 2015
Worldwide investment in renewable energy hit a record £202.3 billion in 2015, according to a new study.
The new total beats the previous record of £194 billion set in 2011 and was published in the 10th Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment.
The new study also shows that investment in developing countries was greater than in developed nations.
Crucially the new study also shows that more new renewable energy capacity was brought online during 2015 than fossil-fuel capacity.
The report was produced by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate and Sustainable Energy Finance and Bloomberg New Energy Finance and said that developing nations committed a combined total of US$156 billion in renewables while developed nations invested US$130 billion.
The report said: "A large element in this turnaround was China, which lifted its investment by 17 per cent to US$102.9bn, or 36 per cent of the world total."
The foreword of the new study was written by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who said the findings increased confidence that a low-carbon development was achievable.
The UN chief wrote: "We have entered a new era of clean energy growth that can fuel a future of opportunity and greater prosperity for every person on the planet."
At the COP21 Paris climate summit in December, 195 UN member states agreed to limit greenhouse gas emissions and prevent dangerous levels of global warming under the historic Paris Agreement.