Global investment in renewable energy made significant progress between 2013 and 2018, with a cumulative USD 1.8 trillion invested. The decrease in installation costs, resulting from improvements in technology and the adaptation of procurement mechanisms to changing market conditions, has proven to be an effective catalyst in ramping up investment and building additional capacity.

This second edition of the Global Landscape of Renewable Energy Finance presents key global investment trends between 2013 and 2018 by region and sector, maps the role of different financial instruments and explores key differences between private and public actors. While the landscape is encouraging at first sight, the data suggest that the international community still has a long way to go to reach the level of investment necessary to achieve international climate and development goals.

The analysis also paints an unequal picture of the landscape of renewable energy finance, skewed heavily toward private actors operating in a handful of key countries. While investment has held a steady course in China, the United States and Western Europe, regions such as Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa remain under-represented in current global renewable energy investments.