Clean energy cash to developing countries surges 78%, but not evenly distributed – UN

By: ThinkBusiness Africa

Global financial flows dedicated to clean energy projects in developing countries have surged by nearly 78%, reaching a total of $21.57 billion in 2025 from $12 billion in 2015. The United Nations (UN) said on Tuesday in its newly released Yearbook of Global Climate Action 2025.

The report, published by the UN flags Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under the title “Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action,” celebrates the dramatic escalation of renewable investment but issues a stark warning: the vast majority of this capital is concentrated in a few nations, risking the global goal of universal energy access by 2030.

“Universal access by 2030 requires not just technology deployment but equitable distribution of capital and capacity.” UN warns

The UNFCCC data shows this substantial flow—a rise from $12.14 billion in 2015—is underpinned by a fundamental shift in global investment economics.

A key finding of the Yearbook is the dramatic reversal in investment ratio – clean energy to fossil fuel investment reached 10:1 in 2024, increasing fivefold from 2:1 in 2015. This demonstrates renewables have transformed from subsidy-dependent to economically preferred.

This ratio suggests that the market logic for renewables—driven by falling technology costs—is firmly established, confirming that the clean energy transition is now the dominant global investment story.

Despite this record-breaking investment total, the UN body cautioned that the benefits are not being shared equitably, presenting a major fault line in global climate action.

This geographic imbalance is most acute in Africa, where financial conditions severely hinder infrastructure buildout:

Africa is projected to attract only about 3% of the world’s total energy investment in 2025, despite being home to 20% of the global population.

High interest rates and currency depreciation mean that debt servicing costs on the continent are forecast to absorb the equivalent of 85% of total energy investment (which is estimated to be around $105 billion) in 2025, severely limiting the capacity to launch new projects.

Even within Africa, the investment is unevenly distributed, with North and South Africa accounting for the majority of new capacity and investment, leaving countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with the largest clean energy deficits lagging significantly behind.

The total external debt for the African continent as a whole reached approximately $1.2 trillion in 2023, with a significant portion of this owed by sub-Saharan African nations. Total external debt service for African countries is projected to reach $89 billion in 2025, significant increase from $60 billion in 2010.

The report noted that while 95% of countries are now engaging non-Party stakeholders in implementing their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), financial and capacity gaps persist. To address this, global efforts must rapidly scale up the mobilization of climate finance to reach the newly agreed target of $1.3 trillion per year by 2035 for developing countries.