Scaling the Industrial Transition 2025

Capital investments in energy ($, billions), 2015–2025 FIGURE 6Capital investments ($, billions) 5001,0001,5002,0002,500 0 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025e Fossil investments Clean energy investments Note: e = estimate Source: International Energy Agency (IEA). Still, capital remains unevenly distributed. The Forum’s Energy Transition Index (ETI) 2025 shows that while 90% of clean investment since 2021 occurred in advanced economies and China, over 80% of future industrial demand lies in emerging markets, where financing costs are up to seven times higher (Figure 7).95 Within sectors, funding clusters around lower-risk technologies and regions – hydrogen-steel and CCUS in Europe, SAF in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) markets – leaving others under-capitalized. First movers that align credible carbon performance with competitive economics already access lower-cost finance; others risk exclusion. The next phase of progress depends on broadening the investable base – through blended finance, transition bonds and carbon contracts for difference – to channel capital into projects that are both bankable and competitive. Scaling the Industrial Transition: Hard-to-Abate Sectors and Net-Zero Progress in 2025 21