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China’s Official Energy Finance in Emerging and Developing Economies Trends in China’s Outbound Energy Finance
This section examines the major shifts in China’s outbound energy finance over the past decade, with a particular focus on developments since 2022. Drawing on publicly available project information and systematically compiled datasets, the analysis highlights structural changes in the scale, composition and institutional drivers of official financing, with aggregate figures presented up to 2024. Together, these trends reveal how China’s role as an energy financier is evolving – from a gradual decline of traditional policy-bank lending to the rise of more commercial-oriented official providers – and what this means for investment patterns across EMDE. Overall financing trends…
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Global Methane Tracker 2025 Key findings
Energy-related methane emissions have still not reached a definitive peak The fossil fuel sector is responsible for nearly one-third of methane emissions from human activity today. Record production of oil, gas and coal, combined with limited mitigation efforts, has kept emissions above 120 million tonnes (Mt) annually. Abandoned wells and mines – included in this year’s Global Methane Tracker for the first time – contributed around 8 Mt to these emissions in 2024. Bioenergy production and consumption results in a further 20 Mt of methane, largely from the incomplete combustion of traditional biomass used in cooking and heating in developing economies…
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Electricity 2026 Flexibility
Evolving generation and demand patterns reshape power system needs The Age of Electricity is underpinned by rising investments in new resources. These include growing converter-based variable solar PV and wind, battery storage systems, as well as spatially and temporally concentrated demand from EVs, heat pumps and large loads like data centres. Combined with the expansion and upgrade of transmission and distribution grids, substantial increases in the flexibility of power systems are required for secure and cost-effective integration of generation, load and storage technologies that characterise this new era.Last year’s report, Electricity 2025, focused on measures to…
- Executive summary
- Demand
- Supply
- Grids
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+ 4 pages
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Global Hydrogen Review 2025 Trade and infrastructure
Highlights Trade is a major driver of project announcements. Nearly 45% of low-emissions hydrogen from announced production projects is intended for export, exceeding 16 Mtpa H₂-eq by 2030 if all materialise. Yet export-oriented projects are less likely to reach the investment stage, with only 5% having done so. These projects tend to be large scale, lacking off-takers. More than half are in emerging and developing economies, where affordable capital and export infrastructure may be limited.Some governments are supporting the large-scale offtake of low-emissions hydrogen by providing funds for long-term premiums through competitive auctions. However…
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Luxembourg 2026 Executive summary
Luxembourg has established ambitious climate and energy objectives, but more targeted policy measures are needed to meet them. Luxembourg’s climate and energy goals are aligned with the European Union (EU) targets for a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 and a 90% reduction by 2040, and it has legally enshrined net zero emissions by 2050. Despite rapid population and economic growth, energy-related emissions have already fallen by 40% since 2005, reflecting the success of early measures. Public support for climate action is also robust, providing a strong foundation for the next phase of the transition…
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What Next for the Global Car Industry Global car industry manufacturing clusters
Regions with strong car industries tend to operate as clusters in which supplier factories are located alongside those of parts manufacturers and material producers. This is because close co-ordination between automakers and a wide network of specialised suppliers is essential to keep costs low. Such production ecosystems also facilitate the rapid exchange of complex, often tacit, knowledge, especially during vehicle development phases where design, engineering and manufacturing decisions must be tightly aligned. This interactive map shows global data on car assembly location, as well as more detailed regional automotive clusters.
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Universal Access to Clean Cooking in Africa Outlook for clean cooking in Africa
Off the back burner? Based on today’s policies, investment and market trends, only three African countries are set to reach universal clean cooking access by mid-century. Sub-Saharan Africa could achieve universal coverage by 2040, if countries were to replicate the best historical rates of progress seen in similar countries around the world – a pathway explored in the new Accelerating Clean Cooking and Electricity Services Scenario (ACCESS). It will require 80 million people to gain access annually, or a 4.7 percentage point improvement in access rates each year, comparable to rates of progress seen in Indonesia, Cambodia…
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Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as one of the most consequential technologies of our time. In recent years, the capabilities of AI systems have grown quickly due to improved computing power, a boom in data availability and breakthroughs in the design of AI models, leading to rapid adoption by both businesses and individuals. Though significant uncertainties remain, AI has the potential to transform the energy sector in the coming decade. It is set to drive a surge in electricity demand from data centres around the world while also unlocking significant opportunities to cut costs, enhance competitiveness and reduce emissions.To…
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- Executive summary
- Hydrogen
- Road transport
- Steel
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+ 3 pages
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Electricity Mid-Year Update 2025 Demand: Global electricity use to grow strongly in 2025 and 2026
Global electricity demand is forecast to increase by an average annual 3.3% in 2025 and by 3.7% in 2026, a moderation from 4.4% in 2024 but still some of the highest growth rates observed over the last decade. This is a slight downward revision from our previous forecast in February 2025 of 4% growth for this year and 3.8% in 2026. The change is partly due to the IMF's downgrade of the global GDP growth outlook compared with its January 2025 update amid elevated uncertainty surrounding trade tariffs and economic prospects. Despite these downside risks…
