The scale of energy efficiency deployments globally is below the pace needed to enable countries to reach net zero.

The worrying finding comes from the International Energy Agency (IEA)‘s landmark report on energy efficiency which suggests the amount of money invested in this sector worldwide needs to triple to help the governments achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The report unveils that there are regional inequalities in terms of the approved energy efficiency public spending with most of it coming from developed economies.

The IEA estimates that currently, energy efficiency-related spending makes up around two-thirds of the total $400 billion (£296bn) a year mobilised by governments.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said: “We consider energy efficiency to be the ‘first fuel’ as it still represents the cleanest and, in most cases, the cheapest way to meet our energy needs.

“There is no plausible pathway to net zero emissions without using our energy resources much more efficiently,

“A step change in energy efficiency will give us a fighting chance of staving off the worst effects of climate change while creating millions of decent jobs and driving down energy bills.“