Signal IEA 2026 World Energy Investment: record $3.4tn investment, but coal spending hits highest level since 2012

Summary

The IEA's World Energy Investment 2026 report, released in late May 2026, projects global energy investment will reach $3.4 trillion in 2026, a 5% rise from 2025, with about $2.2 trillion flowing to renewables, nuclear, grids, storage, low-emissions fuels, efficiency and electrification, and roughly $1.2 trillion to oil, gas and coal. Renewable power investment is projected at about $665 billion, including $365 billion for solar alone, while coal investment rises to $180 billion, the highest since 2012, with China accounting for more than 65% of global coal-supply spending and Chinese steam-coal investment alone surpassing $100 billion. Oil investment is expected to fall for a third consecutive year to below $500 billion despite elevated prices, natural gas investment is projected to rise to $330 billion, a decade high, driven by new LNG export projects, and nuclear investment is set to exceed $80 billion with nearly 80 gigawatts of new capacity under construction across 15 countries. Africa attracted just 3% of global energy investment, about $110 billion, despite holding 20% of the world's population and 60% of the world's best solar resources; public and development-finance funding for African energy projects fell roughly one-third over the past decade to $20 billion in 2024, driven largely by an over-85% cut in Chinese development-finance spending. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol described the environment as historic, comparing the current energy-security disruption to the 1970s oil shocks that pushed countries toward diversification, nuclear power and efficiency investment.