Report
How big is the Net Zero financing gap?
Decarbonizing the global economy is the greatest challenge of our times – and the biggest investment opportunity in history - we assess the scale of the financing needed to deliver Net Zero.
The net-zero finance gap
Global overview
For investors and policymakers, deciding where to focus requires better climate finance data. That’s why A&O Shearman, in partnership with Climate Policy Initiative, embarked on a landmark study to assess the scale of the financing needed to deliver Net Zero. Below you can explore the data, which breaks down the investment needed each year between now and 2050 across a range of technologies. You can also read our report for the full context, and view the methodology that underpins the numbers.
We estimate that delivering Net Zero will require USD6.2 trillion of climate finance per year between now and 2030, and USD7.3trn per year by 2050 – a total of almost USD200trn.
The sectors with the greatest climate finance needs are transport (50%) and energy systems (32%). The top priorities for investment are building energy efficiency, decarbonizing industrial processes, developing clean energy storage solutions, and bolstering carbon capture, utilization, and storage.
Public financial institutions should channel their funding to mobilize private finance and achieve higher impact, as well as provide political risk support, guarantees to reduce foreign exchange risk, and liquidity to increase funding for less commercially viable sectors and regions.
Dive into the report
Here, you'll find the introduction to our report - Delivering Net Zero by 2050: the $200 trillion opportunity. You can also click on the links to the five chapters of the report that explore our findings in more detail.
Related people
David Lee
Partner
Scott Neilson
Partner
Tokyo