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Commentary
25 Mar 2026
Businesses see competitive value of energy efficiency, but smaller firms struggle to access solutions
CEOs value energy efficiency, but SMEs struggle to benefit Energy efficiency is a strategic asset for industrial competitiveness. For companies facing tight margins, volatile energy prices and intensifying global competition, reducing energy waste is not only a cost-saving measure, but also a way to protect productivity, manage risk and strengthen their position in global markets. Yet not all firms have the same capacity to quickly improve their energy efficiency.New analysis of the 2025 IEA Industrial Competitiveness Survey – which covered 1 000 companies across 14 countries – shows that business leaders view energy efficiency as closely linked to their competitive performance…
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Report
Apr 2026
Rare Earth Elements
Pathways to secure and diversified supply chains The critical role of rare earth elements in strategic applications, ranging from energy technologies and advanced electronics to aerospace and defence systems, combined with their highly concentrated supply chains, has elevated their importance in both energy and broader economic security discussions in recent years. This report assesses the current state of the rare earth elements market, examining demand and supply dynamics and key technological developments. It analyses the full value chain from mining to permanent magnet production, evaluates vulnerabilities across supply chains, and highlights the implications of potential supply disruptions. Based on these…
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Policy report
Dec 2025
COP28 Tripling Renewable Capacity Pledge 2025: Update Key Findings
New Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) show limited reflection of the pledge to triple global renewable capacity by 2030 agreed at COP28 Between COP28 and the end of COP30, only about two-thirds of NDCs have been updated (128) and fewer than half of these (53) explicitly reference the global tripling goal. Even fewer (32) contain quantifiable renewable capacity ambitions for 2030. NDCs continue to under-represent current government ambitions for installed renewable capacity by 2030 The NDC 3.0 round does not fully capture countries’ 2030 renewable capacity ambitions in all submitted NDCs. Including 2030 ambitions from previous NDC cycles, total…
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Country report
Sep 2023
Financing Clean Energy in Africa Designing finance solutions for clean energy: solutions for key sectors
Summary The doubling of energy investment in Africa seen under the Sustainable Africa Scenario (SAS) requires innovative solutions to fully mobilise capital from a range of providers – national governments, DFIs and private capital. Private capital plays a key role by 2030, increasing sixfold from today’s levels, but understanding where it can be deployed is essential to enable the design of targeted interventions. And there are still some countries and sectors where grants and concessional funding need to lead. Achieving universal access to modern energy requires a major uptick in spending, reaching roughly USD 25 billion per year by 2030. Affordability constraints…
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Commentary
23 Jan 2026
Investment in next-generation geothermal is surging. Policies are key to further growth
Next-generation geothermal readies for take-off Next-generation geothermal is seeing a burst of financing, innovation and new supply agreements Geothermal energy harnesses naturally occurring heat found beneath the Earth’s surface to provide heating and cooling, electricity and energy storage. As global electricity demand rises and power systems place a growing premium on firm supply, geothermal energy’s ability to provide an around-the-clock, low-emissions source of power is attracting renewed attention. However, easy-to-access conventional geothermal resources are relatively rare and mostly confined to a small number of shallow geothermal hotspots globally, accounting for…
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Report
Jun 2025
Emission reductions
Multiple benefits of Energy Efficiency 2025 Energy efficiency provides multiple benefits. This page explores emission reductions. Why is energy efficiency important for emission reductions? Energy efficiency can reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants and make the energy system more sustainable. Key facts Since 2010, efficiency measures avoided energy-related carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions equivalent to nearly 20% of the global total in 2023. This is more than the entire energy-related emissions of India and the European Union combined. Accelerating efficiency improvements could deliver a third of all energy-related CO₂ emission reductions between now and 2030 in…
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Country
China
China’s growing energy needs are increasingly met by renewables, natural gas and electricity. The scale of China’s future electricity demand and the challenge of decarbonising the power supply help explain why global investment in electricity overtook that of oil and gas for the first time in 2016, and why electricity security is moving firmly up the policy agenda. That said, cost reductions for renewables are not sufficient on their own to secure efficient decarbonisation or reliable supply.
Between 2019 and 2024, China will account for 40% of global renewable capacity expansion, driven by improved system integration, lower curtailment…- Overview
- Energy mix
- Emissions
- Electricity
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+ 5 pages
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Country report
Dec 2025
China’s Official Energy Finance in Emerging and Developing Economies Case 4. TFC Solar PV project in South Africa
Project overview and impact South Africa faces significant challenges regarding electricity reliability. The lack of investment, coupled with increasing demand have led to chronic load shedding, with household and industrial consumers affected. Energy-intensive sectors, such as ferrochrome smelting, face rising operational costs, production losses and growing pressure to reduce emissions in line with national and international climate objectives. To address power shortages, the South African government, since 2023, has allowed independent power producers to build power plants above 100 MW and sell electricity directly to private customers without an issued generation license.The Tubaste Ferrochrome (TFC) solar PV power…
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Country report
Oct 2025
Ukraine’s Energy Security
A pre-winter assessment As Ukraine enters its fourth winter of war, ensuring that residents retain reliable access to heat and power is of the utmost importance. While Ukraine made strong strides in rebuilding and strengthening the resilience of its energy system this past spring and summer, the situation remains fragile, and the risk of huge disruptions and widespread destabilisation remains – particularly as Russia expands the scope and sophistication of its attacks.This analysis builds on the IEA’s September 2024 report, Ukraine’s Energy Security and the Coming Winter. It provides an update on the latest developments through October…