TROUBLE IN THE AIR: Public finance for fossil fuels is worryingly on the rise | Photo Credit: TomasSereda

Between November 10 and 21, the 30th Conference of Parties (COP) will be held in Belem, Brazil. It will mark the 10th COP (climate talks) since the “historic” COP21, held in Paris in 2015.

What has really changed in this decade in terms of climate action? You’d typically get one of two answers: “a lot”; or “not enough”. Both are factually correct.

The World Resources Institute has come out with a report titled ‘The state of climate action, 2025’, principally authored by Sophie Boehm and Clea Schumer.

Here is a look at the major achievements listed, and why they are still not enough.

Renewable energy

Since 2015, the share of electricity generated from solar and wind has more than tripled — from 4.5 per cent to 15 per cent. Solar power is the fastest growing source of electricity in history, repeatedly exceeding projections for increases in installed capacity and generation. Today, solar around the world generates roughly 2,100 terawatt-hours each year — eight times more than in 2015 and 66 times more than in 2010.

Not enough: While the relatively consistent growth is impressive, maintaining this trajectory won’t be enough to get on track for 2030. Rather, solar and wind need to grow more than twice as fast, at 29 per cent per year — and delays only make the challenge steeper.

Electric vehicles

Electric passenger cars were fewer than one per cent of total car sales in 2015, and 4.4 per cent in 2020. Today it is 22 per cent.

Not enough: It is doubtful if the momentum will sustain. EV sales fell slightly in Europe following the rollback of subsidies in countries like Germany and France. In the US, growth in EV sales has decelerated due to factors such as slow rollout of public charging infrastructure.

The growth lags what’s needed to help achieve the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal.

Finance

The ratio of clean energy finance to fossil fuel finance has more than doubled, with investments in clean energy supply surpassing that in fossil fuels for the second consecutive year in 2024. The ratio has moved from 1:2 in 2015 to 1.1:1 in 2024. Between 2022 and 2023, climate finance from the private sector rose from roughly $870 billion to a record high of $1.3 trillion.

Not enough: The ‘record high’ is still far from the $3.1 trillion needed by 2030. Simultaneously, the world has seen a troubling rise in public finance for fossil fuels. Since 2014, governmental finance support for fossil fuels — such as production and consumption subsidies, and funding from domestic and international development finance institutions — has increased on average by about $75 billion per year.

Newer solutions

Technological solutions such as green hydrogen and direct air capture for carbon dioxide removal, which were not thought of in 2015, are gaining ground now. Green hydrogen production quadrupled in 2024 over the previous year. The share of electric trucks (medium and heavy duty) increased 67 per cent in 2024 over the previous year.

There are over 30 direct air capture projects globally today, and 50 more are expected soon, including three that can capture more than 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually — nearly 14 times the capacity of the largest plant today.

Not enough: The 2030 target calls for scaling up 10 times faster — roughly adding nine of the largest direct air capture facilities each month.

Climate action lacking

WRI estimates that between 2021 and 2024, forestland equivalent to 22 football fields were lost every minute.

Efforts to phase out coal are sluggish. Coal’s share in global electricity generation fell slightly from 37 per cent in 2019 to 34 per cent in 2024 and remains “well off track”, says WRI. The share must decline 10 times faster to reach 4 per cent by 2030. That means retiring nearly 360 average-sized coal-fired power plants each year, and no addition of coal capacity.

Are COPs relevant?

This question has been asked over and over again. The answer lies in two data points. The 2015 Emissions Gap Report of the United Nations Environment Programme had estimated that the world was headed to be warmer by 4 degrees C; last year’s report puts it at 2.6–3.1 degrees C. The target is 1.5 degrees C. So, again, good progress, but not enough.

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Published on October 27, 2025