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China’s Official Energy Finance in Emerging and Developing Economies
Evolving institutions, instruments and implications for clean energy transitions Global energy investment exceeded USD 3.3 trillion in 2025, but capital flows remain uneven. Emerging market and developing economies (EMDE) outside China attracted just 27% of total energy investment and 18% of clean energy spending, despite accounting for nearly two-thirds of the global population and the bulk of future demand. Addressing this imbalance requires mobilising more capital from diverse sources into EMDE energy systems.China continues to play a central role in global energy investment flows because of its large domestic investments and its large external capital spending on energy. Since…
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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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Global battery markets are growing strongly – and so are the supply risks
part 1- lithium-ion batteries Batteries’ importance is increasing across key sectors including autos, power, data centres and beyond The global lithium-ion battery market exceeded USD 150 billion in 2025, an increase of over 20% from 2024, but its economic and strategic significance extends far beyond market size. Batteries are becoming a cornerstone of the automotive sector, a critical source of flexibility for power systems, and an increasingly important source of back-up power for digital infrastructure, including data centres and artificial intelligence.Beyond energy, batteries remain indispensable for a wide range of industrial and strategic applications, from portable…
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Global Hydrogen Review 2026 Demand
Global hydrogen demand grew almost 3% in 2025 to surpass 100 Mt, concentrated in traditional uses in industry and refining. The impacts of the conflict in the Middle East render the near-term outlook for current hydrogen applications uncertain, particularly for fertiliser production and trade.Demand for low-emissions hydrogen grew by 20% in 2025, reaching close to 1 Mt. However, sluggish and uncertain policy implementation is failing to address the major barriers to adoption and preventing faster uptake.New offtake agreements for low-emissions hydrogen reached 1.7 Mtpa in 2025, as in 2024. One-fifth of all new agreements were firm…
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Energy crisis threatens world’s most vulnerable as cooking fuel shortages grow
The Energy Crisis hits the Homefront: A growing shortage of cooking fuels The Middle East crisis has highlighted the energy security risks for a fundamental need: the ability to cook a meal The conflict in the Middle East has triggered a global energy crisis of unprecedented magnitude. The daily volumes of oil lost to global markets in March 2026 surpassed the peak supply losses of the two major oil shocks of the 1970s combined.Previous energy crises affected economies and societies in profound ways, often forcing households to ration fuel for their cars and heating for their homes. The 2026…
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World Energy Outlook 2025
The IEA’s flagship World Energy Outlook (WEO) is the most authoritative source of global energy analysis and projections. Updated annually to reflect the latest energy data, technology and market trends, and government policies, it explores a range of possible energy futures and their implications for energy security, access and emissions. The WEO covers the whole energy system, using a scenario-based approach to highlight the central choices, consequences and contingencies that lie ahead. It includes exploratory scenarios that flow from different assumptions about existing policies, as well as normative pathways that achieve energy and emissions goals in full. The multi…
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Global Hydrogen Review 2026 Cost acceptability
Analysis of the costs of hydrogen in different end-uses enables identification of the maximum acceptable costs for hydrogen users, i.e. the maximum amount that can be spent on the hydrogen feedstock within a low-emissions pathway while maintaining the same total levelised cost of production as the incumbent pathway to produce the same commodity.This can enable policy makers and investors to identify sectors with both high maximum acceptable hydrogen costs and high potential volumes that can serve as lead markets for low-emissions hydrogen. Cost acceptability can be influenced by policies and depends on technologies, fuels and…
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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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World Energy Investment 2025 Latin America and the Caribbean
Clean energy investment in Latin America has grown by nearly 25% in the past decade, highlighting regional progress despite diverse country contexts and transition pathways In Latin America and the Caribbean, a region characterised by diverse economic, political, and energy landscapes, GDP grew by 15% between 2015 and 2025, driven by Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Costa Rica, which experienced increases of between 10% and 40%. Since 2015, clean energy investment increased by nearly 25%, reaching USD 70 billion in 2025. Chile, Colombia and Costa Rica accounted for the largest increase, given the doubling of renewable investment flowing into the three countries. Brazil…
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7 certainties about energy for this age of uncertainty
ED commentary The energy sector, like many others, is contending with a blizzard of uncertainties, complicating the work of policymakers, business leaders and investors.Geopolitical twists and turns are straining long-established relationships and upending deeply held assumptions. The World Uncertainty Index, devised by economists from the IMF and Stanford University, has hit unprecedented levels in recent months.But in this time of flux, there are still some important trends that we can identify with some confidence. Here are seven that can help us keep our bearings: The world has entered the age of electricity Oil and gas will still…