The International Energy Agency’s annual benchmark for tracking energy investment, World Energy Investment 2019 provides a full picture of today’s capital flows and what they might mean for tomorrow’s energy sector. It assesses whether the frameworks and strategies put in place by governments, the energy industry, and financial institutions are spurring timely investment, and how spending across sectors and technologies matches with the world’s energy security and sustainability needs.

This year’s edition looks at trends in investment and financing in 2018 across all areas of energy supply, efficiency, and research & development, key markets and sectors driving these trends, from electricity in Asia to fuel supply in North America, as well as the sectors and regions where energy capital flows are constrained. The analysis also examines how industry is responding to investment risks and opportunities, including through shorter-cycle oil and gas projects, financial risk management strategies for renewable power, financing models for energy efficiency, and in capital allocation decisions across sectors. And it looks at the implications of today’s trends, such as whether investment is sufficient to satisfy the world’s growing demand for energy, and whether enough capital is going into energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other low-carbon technologies to accelerate the pace of global energy transitions.