IEA calls on oil companies to earmark half of investments for clean energy by 2030

The International Energy Agency (IEA) sees that oil producers need to earmark 50% of their capital expenditures (capex) for clean energy projects by 2030, in a bid to align with the global climate targets.

Oil and gas companies currently account for just 1% of clean energy investment globally. In 2022, they invested around $20 billion in clean energy, or roughly 2.5% of their total capex, indicating the need for a strategic transition by 2030, the agency added.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said the oil and gas industry will face “a moment of truth” at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, which kicks off on Nov. 30, the Financial Times reported.

“With the world suffering the impacts of a worsening climate crisis, continuing with business as usual is neither socially nor environmentally responsible,” Birol was quoted as saying.

He also noted that oil companies have been slow in investing in clean energy because they do not see how they will make money from it, explaining that fossil fuel revenues are less stable and only slightly higher than clean energy.