A UN report claims that global investments in green energy are up 32%. Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2011 found that last year, investors pumped a record $211 billion into renewables -- about one-third more than the $160 billion invested in 2009, and a 540% rise since 2004.
According to the report, wind farms in China and small-scale solar panels on rooftops in Europe were largely responsible for rise in green energy investments worldwide.
China, with $48.9 billion in financial new investment in renewables (up 28%), was the world leader in 2010. However, other parts of the emerging world also showed strong growth:
- South and Central America: up 39% to $13.1 billion
- Middle East and Africa: up 104% to $5 billion
- India: up 25% to $3.8 billion,
- Asian developing countries excluding China and India: up 31% to $4 billion.
For the first time, developing economies overtook developed ones in terms of "financial new investment."
$72 billion was invested in developing countries compared to $70 billion in developed economies.
"The continuing growth in this core segment of the Green Economy is not happening by chance," says Achim Steiner Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). "The combination of government target-setting, policy support and stimulus funds is underpinning the renewable industry's rise and bringing the much needed transformation of our global energy system within reach.''
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