The world will need to invest $4.5 trillion (£3.7 trillion) a year from the start of the next decade if it is to reach net zero by 2050, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said.
The Paris-based organisation said that record growth in clean energy technology, including solar panels and electric vehicles, means it is still possible to limit rises in global temperatures to 1.5C.
However, it would require a huge ramping up of spending. World governments and organisations are expected to spend $1.8 trillion (£1.5 trillion) on the transition to cleaner energy in 2023.
Temperatures have hit record levels this year and global averages are around 1.1C higher compared with the pre-industrial average.
That compares with the goal set by the 2015 UN Paris Agreement to keep global temperature rises well below 2C, while pursuing efforts to limit them to 1.5C to prevent the most severe consequences, such as drought, floods and increased wildfires.
In its update to its Net Zero Roadmap, the IEA said that the world needs to triple global renewable capacity, double energy efficient infrastructure, increase heat pump sales and increase EV use by 2030.
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What happened overnight
Asian shares mostly sank over worries about a possible US government shutdown and the troubled Chinese economy.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.6pc to 32,469.85. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.5pc to 7,042.50.
South Korea’s Kospi dropped nearly 1pc to 2,471.30. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.9pc to 17,578.90, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.2pc to 3,110.86.
On currency markets, the dollar was hovering around 11-month highs near 150 yen, putting the spotlight on authorities in Japan, whose government has warned it is willing to intervene if the moves become excessive.
However, analysts do not expect the yen to strengthen any time soon owing to the Japanese central bank’s refusal to move away from its ultra-loose monetary policy.
Investors are keeping a wary eye on developments in China as the country’s troubled property sector comes back into focus after indebted developer Evergrande said it had missed an onshore bond repayment.
Wall Street clawed back some of its steep losses from last week. The S&P 500 rose 17.38, or 0.4pc, to 4,337.44, coming off its worst week in six months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 43.04, or 0.1pc, to 34,006.88, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 59.51, or 0.5pc, to 13,271.32.
