Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016
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What this document is
‘Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016’ is one edition of an annual report that has become a standard reference for anyone tracking the money behind the clean-energy transition. It is produced jointly by UN Environment, the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate and Sustainable Energy Finance, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Each year the report totals up global investment in renewable power and fuels, then breaks the figures down by technology, by region and by the kind of finance involved. This page summarises what the 2016 edition sets out to do; it does not reproduce the report’s specific dollar totals, which you should read from the original.
What it covers
The report’s value lies in the way it slices a complex, worldwide flow of capital into readable trends. Typical themes across the series, and this edition, include the following.
- Total new investment in renewable energy for the year, compared with previous years;
- The split between technologies, with solar and wind consistently dominating;
- The growing share of investment flowing to developing economies, not just wealthy ones;
- The trend of falling costs, so that record capacity can be added even when spending plateaus;
- The role of different financing routes, from asset finance to small-scale distributed projects.
A recurring headline message of the series is that renewables were, by the mid-2010s, adding more new generating capacity worldwide than fossil fuels, a milestone the reports helped to document.
Why it matters
Investment figures are a leading indicator: money committed today becomes power stations and solar farms tomorrow. By tracking the flow of capital, the report gives an early read on how fast the energy system is shifting, which is why it is cited so widely by analysts, journalists and policymakers.
The 2016 edition, in particular, is frequently referenced for capturing the moment when cheap solar and strong demand in emerging markets reshaped the global picture. Many external pages that linked to the original PDF now reach a dead link, which is why a stable summary is helpful.
How it relates to UK energy
The global cost falls the report documents are the same trend that made wind and solar central to the UK’s electricity mix. Cheaper renewables ultimately shape the tariffs households can buy and the support schemes available to them.
To see how this plays out for a British bill payer, read our guide to renewable energy, and our explainer on feed-in tariffs and the Smart Export Guarantee for how small-scale generators are paid.
You can find the original report via UN Environment (UNEP), which publishes the series openly.
Frequently asked questions
Who produces this report?
It is a collaboration between UN Environment (UNEP), the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate and Sustainable Energy Finance, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which supplies much of the underlying investment data.
What does it actually measure?
It tracks how much money flowed into renewable energy worldwide over the year — new investment in wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, small hydro and other clean sources — broken down by technology, region and type of finance.
Why is the 2016 edition significant?
It reported on investment during a period when clean-energy costs, particularly for solar, were falling sharply and developing economies were becoming major sources of new capacity. It is often referenced to show that renewables were attracting record investment even as the cost per unit of capacity fell.
Where can I read the original report?
The report is published openly by UN Environment and the Frankfurt School-UNEP Centre. This page links to UNEP so you can find the primary source.