Energy Transition Monitor 2026

Paradox of progress

Clean energy is scaling faster than anyone predicted. In 2025, renewables supplied 99% of global electricity growth. Solar, batteries and electric vehicles continue to beat every forecast. Yet global emissions appear to be plateauing, not yet falling. This is the paradox at the heart of the Energy Transition Monitor 2026, ETC’s annual report on the state of the energy transition. Record investment and deployment are not yet translating into the emissions cuts the world needs.

Two-speed transition

Around 60% of global emissions could be cut through clean electrification at little or no extra cost — mainly in power and road transport, where electrification is already accelerating. The remaining 40%, from aviation, shipping, industrial heat and agriculture, requires solutions that carry a green premium or remain at early stages of commercial scale. Four key actions remain largely unaddressed: coal phase-out, methane emissions reductions, forest protection and carbon removal at scale.

What needs to happen next

The technology exists. The bottlenecks that remain are deployment speed, grid investment and policy action. This year’s Energy Transition Monitor shows what must change and where the opportunity lies.

Scroll down for a visual summary of the Monitor’s key findings.