IEA says the coronavirus crisis has set in motion the largest drop of global energy investment in history

CNBC reports that the International Energy Agency believes the coronavirus pandemic has paved the way for the largest decline of global energy investment in history, with spending set to plummet in every major sector this year.

In the group’s annual World Energy Investment report, published on Wednesday, the IEA said that the unparalleled decline in worldwide energy investment had been “staggering in both its scale and swiftness.”

It warned the economic impact of the public health crisis could have “serious” implications for energy security and clean energy transitions.

“The historic plunge in global energy investment is deeply troubling for many reasons,” Fatih Birol, executive director at the IEA, said in a statement.

“It means lost jobs and economic opportunities today, as well as lost energy supply that we might well need tomorrow once the economy recovers,” he continued. “The slowdown in spending on key clean energy technologies also risks undermining the much-needed transition to more resilient and sustainable energy systems.”

At the start of 2020, the IEA said global energy investment was on pace for growth of around 2%, reflecting the largest annual rise in spending in six years.

But, after the Covid-19 crisis brought large swathes of the world economy to a halt in a matter of months, the IEA said it now expects global investment to tumble by 20% compared to last year.

To be sure, that’s a fall of nearly $400 billion year-on-year.