7 April 2014: A report released by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Frankfurt School (FS)-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) finds that renewable energy (excluding large hydro) accounted for 43.6% of new generation capacity in 2013. The new installations continued an upward trend in renewable energy additions, despite a 14% decrease in investment.

According to the report, titled ‘Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2014,’ renewable energy’s global market share totaled 8.5% in 2013, as compared to 7.8% in 2012. If the same electricity were generated from non-renewable sources, global carbon dioxide emissions in the energy sector would have been approximately 1.2 gigatonnes higher in 2013.

The report partially attributed the US$35.1 billion drop in investment to declining solar photovoltaic (PV) system costs and policy uncertainty in many countries. Commenting on the report, Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP, emphasized that the decreased investment can be a sign of a maturing and dynamic market.

Investments in the sector by pension funds, insurance companies, wealth managers and private individuals increased, partially through the issuance of clean energy bonds. However, the largest share of finance was sourced from renewable energy companies’ equity raising activities on the public market, totaling US$11 billion (a 201% increase). [FS-UNEP Collaborating Centre Press Release] [UN Climate Change Blog Post] [Publication: Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2014]