Global energy transition investment reaches record $2.3 trillion in 2025, with electric mobility leading the growth at 21%

Introduction

On January 26, 2026, BloombergNEF (BNEF) released its annual *Energy Transition Investment Trends* report, revealing that global energy transition investment reached a record $2.3 trillion in 2025, an 8% increase from 2024. Despite trade frictions and geopolitical tensions, energy transition investment demonstrated remarkable resilience. Electric mobility became the largest investment area, while renewable energy investment saw its first decline in recent years.

Industry Background

Energy transition investment encompasses clean technology deployment, clean energy supply chain investment, equity financing for climate tech companies, and energy transition-related debt issuance. In 2025, all four indicators recorded positive growth. Electric mobility investment led at $893 billion, accounting for 39% of the total; renewable energy investment ranked second at $690 billion, but declined 9.5% year-on-year; grid investment came third at $483 billion. Clean energy supply chain investment (including manufacturing plants for batteries, solar, wind, etc., and battery metal mining and processing) grew 6% to $1270 billion.

Key Developments

Electric Mobility: Core Engine of Investment Investment in the electric mobility sector (including electric vehicles and charging infrastructure) increased by 21% year-on-year to $893 billion, continuing as the largest single investment area in the energy transition. This growth was driven by the sustained rise in global EV sales and the accelerated expansion of charging networks. Expansion plans by automakers such as Tesla and BYD, along with charging infrastructure subsidy policies in various countries, jointly pushed investment to a new high.

Battery Supply Chain: Capacity Expansion Amid Price Pressures Battery manufacturing and materials investment were the main drivers of clean energy supply chain growth. In 2025, battery factories and metal projects dominated supply chain investment. However, overcapacity issues became increasingly prominent, putting pressure on clean technology product prices, a trend expected to continue. China still holds the absolute majority of supply chain investment, and BNEF expects its dominance to be hard to shake in the next three years, though the US, EU, and India are gradually narrowing the gap through localization policies.

Renewable Energy: China’s Policy Adjustment Drags Global Figures Global renewable energy investment fell 9.5%, mainly due to uncertainty from changes in China’s electricity market rules. As the world’s largest market, China saw its renewable energy investment decline for the first time since 2013. Nevertheless, investment in the EU and India grew by 18% and 15% respectively, partially offsetting the decline in China.

Climate Tech Financing: Equity Market Rebounds Climate tech companies raised $77.3 billion through equity financing, up 53% year-on-year, ending a three-year decline. Clean power, energy storage, and low-carbon transportation companies led the gains, with several multi-billion-dollar deals in Asia boosting public market recovery. However, venture capital investment in startups declined for the third consecutive year. M&A activity remained active, with total deal value reaching $99.1 billion for the year, up 37% year-on-year.

Industry Impact

Electric Vehicle Industry Chain The strong growth in electric mobility investment directly benefits automakers, battery suppliers, and charging operators.### Electric Vehicle Industry Chain The strong growth in electric mobility investment directly benefits vehicle manufacturers, battery suppliers, and charging operators. Battery giants such as CATL and LG Energy Solution are expected to benefit from increased orders, while charging operators like ChargePoint and Teld will attract more capital attention. At the same time, investment is extending upstream in the supply chain, with battery metal (lithium, cobalt, nickel) mining and processing projects becoming hotspots.

Battery Technology Roadmap Overcapacity intensifies industry competition, driving battery companies to accelerate technology iteration. R&D investment in next-generation technologies such as solid-state batteries and sodium-ion batteries may increase to seek differentiation advantages. Meanwhile, investment opportunities in the battery recycling industry chain are emerging to meet future retired battery processing demands.

Charging Infrastructure Within the $893 billion total, the share of charging infrastructure is rising, especially in Europe and the United States. Policy support and automaker participation (such as Tesla's opening of its Supercharger network) are driving up charging network density. Pilot projects for V2G (vehicle-to-grid) technology are increasing, laying the foundation for future energy system integration.

Challenges and Risks

• Although total investment reached a record high, growth slowed from 27% in 2021 to 8%, indicating structural bottlenecks in a maturing market. Key risks include:
• Policy uncertainty: The Trump administration's slowdown of energy transition efforts in the U.S. and the reduction of renewable energy subsidies in China may affect subsequent investment confidence.
• Supply chain overcapacity: Overcapacity in batteries, solar, and other sectors leads to price wars, squeezing corporate profits and potentially inhibiting new capacity investment.
• Grid bottlenecks: Although grid investment has increased to $483 billion, it still lags behind the deployment needs of renewable energy and electric vehicles, becoming a key constraint on the transition.
• Geopolitical risks: Trade restrictions and tariff measures may disrupt supply chains and drive up costs.

Future Outlook

BNEF's baseline economic transition scenario predicts that average annual global energy transition investment needs to reach $2.9 trillion over the next five years. Data center investment (approximately $500 billion) is emerging as a new growth pole, with its electricity demand driving clean energy and grid expansion. In addition, clean energy investment has exceeded fossil fuel supply investment for the second consecutive year, with the gap widening from $85 billion in 2024 to $102 billion, marking an acceleration of structural change.

Conclusion

The 2025 investment data show that the global transportation electrification process has not stalled due to geopolitical and economic headwinds; instead, it continues to deepen in the areas of electric mobility and battery supply chains. Industry chain restructuring is underway: China's manufacturing leadership remains hard to shake in the short term, but localization efforts in Europe, the U.S., and India are reshaping the landscape; the large-scale construction of charging infrastructure is removing barriers to EV adoption; energy transition investment is shifting from policy-driven to market-driven. In the future, grid modernization, energy storage deployment, and the improvement of the smart mobility ecosystem will determine the ultimate pace of transportation electrification.