Renewables remained the most cost-competitive source of new electricity in most markets in 2025, the report found.
“The brute power of market forces is taking hold,” said Stiell, adding: “The shift to clean energy is now irreversible.”
But the report also found the world was still well behind on the goal of doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvement by 2030, and made multiple recommendations including upgrading electric grids, and combining solar, wind and battery storage to get cost-competitive power around the clock.
David Waskow, director of the international climate initiative at the nonprofit World Resources Institute, cautioned that the positive news is tempered by the fact that renewables are not yet displacing enough fossil fuel use as global energy demand rises.
He told AFP rising demand for cooling in a warming world, along with AI and data centers, were the two largest drivers of increasing energy demand.
“We’re going to need to not only push farther and faster on renewables, on electrification as well, but also to make sure that we’re reducing the level of fossil fuel consumption,” he said.
The Energy Institute’s Statistical Review of World Energy, published in June, found fossil fuels still supplied 86 percent of global energy in 2025, and that fossil fuel use continued to grow in absolute terms.
