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Energy Innovation Spend Needs to Triple by 2030 to Hit Climate Goals

Achieving net zero by 2050 will be impossible without a rapid scale-up of clean energy technologies,  IEA chief says

Cooling water pours onto a red hot steel slab at a factory.
Cooling water pours onto a red hot steel slab at a factory.Photographer: Udit Kulshrestha/Bloomberg
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Government spending to develop clean energy technologies needs to triple this decade in order to prevent the worst effects of climate change, according to the International Energy Agency.

As the rapid acceleration of wind and solar farms have significantly decreased emissions from electricity, other emissions-heavy industries still need to develop new technologies to reduce their carbon footprint. To scale up fast enough to reach mid-century climate goals, governments will need to ramp up spending on clean energy research and development by 2030, the IEA’s executive director Fatih Birol said in an interview.