Media releases

The global energy transition is making measurable progress, but remains deeply fragmented, according to the 2026 Energy Institute Country Transition Tracker.

Published on Energy Day at COP31, the Tracker draws on the Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy to assess progress across around 80 of the world’s largest energy-consuming countries, representing more than 96% of global energy consumption and 95% of emissions.

The analysis finds encouraging signs that countries are becoming more efficient in the way they use energy. Since 2017, 83% of countries covered by the Statistical Review have reduced their economy-wide energy intensity, while 86% have improved the carbon intensity of their energy consumption. This points to the potential for economic growth to occur alongside improvements in energy and carbon intensity.

But progress is far from uniform. Over the same period, global fossil fuel consumption increased by 8%, or 40EJ, with natural gas demand rising by nearly 15%, coal by 7% and oil by 5%. Energy-related greenhouse gas emissions increased by nearly 1% a year on average between 2017 and 2025.

Among the findings:

• Renewables are growing rapidly, but remain a relatively small part of total energy consumption. Renewable energy consumption, including hydroelectricity, increased in 74 of the 79 leading countries between 2017 and 2025. Globally, it grew by more than 60% over the period, but still supplied only around 8.6% of energy demand in 2025.

• Europe performs strongly across several transition measures. The UK, Spain, France and Germany rank among the top five performers across five or six of the Tracker’s metrics, while Italy and Brazil are top-five performers on four metrics. Germany achieved the largest absolute reduction in emissions, at 222mn t.

• Power is substantially further ahead than the wider energy system. France has the most decarbonised power sector among the itemised countries, with 95% of generation from low- and zero-carbon sources, including 68% from nuclear, followed by Brazil at 89%.

• Some of the largest energy consumers continue to drive emissions growth. Between 2017 and 2025, China and India recorded increases in energy-related emissions of 2,096mn t and 783mn t, respectively. Over a third of the increase in global energy-related GHG emissions in 2025 compared to the previous year (36%) was caused by the US, which saw its coal consumption increase for the first time since the 2021 rebound in energy demand post-COVID.

Commenting, Energy Institute Director of External Affairs, Gemma Regniez AMEI FRSA, said:

“The message from this year’s Country Transition Tracker is that there is no single global energy transition moving at one speed. Progress is real, particularly on energy efficiency, carbon intensity and the growth of renewable energy, but it is uneven between countries and between different parts of the energy system.

“As governments gather at COP31, the data also underline the scale of the challenge still ahead. Global fossil fuel consumption and energy-related emissions have continued to rise since 2017. The transition will ultimately be judged not simply by how much clean energy we add, but by whether countries can meet growing demand for energy while driving emissions decisively down.”

The Tracker’s analysis of the 21 countries responsible for around 80% of global energy demand underlines the magnitude of the decarbonisation challenge. When primary energy intensity, the extent of renewables in the energy mix and the quantity of energy-related CO2e emissions are considered together, France is the only country to sit in the Tracker’s target decarbonisation quadrant.

The Tracker assesses around 80 of the world’s largest energy-consuming countries, together accounting for more than 96% of global energy consumption and 95% of global emissions. It considers eight measures: energy-related GHG emissions, fossil fuel consumption, renewable energy consumption, power sector decarbonisation, carbon intensity of the energy system, total energy consumption per capita, economy-wide energy intensity and economy-wide carbon intensity.

The Tracker builds on the findings of the 2026 Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy, published in June, which found that global energy demand exceeded 600EJ for the first time in 2025. Although renewables continued to grow faster than fossil fuels and represented the largest source of additional demand outside a recession, fossil fuels still supplied more than 85% of the energy consumed worldwide.

Explore the full 2026 Country Transition Tracker, including the country data and interactive analysis, at the Statistical Review of World Energy website.

For a more detailed analysis of what the data tell us about the differing speeds and dimensions of the global energy transition, read the accompanying New Energy World article, ‘Deep divisions detected in the global energy transition’ here.

ENDS

Notes for editors

1. For media enquiries contact Neil Michie at [email protected] or +44 (0)20 7467 7132.
2. The 2026 Country Transition Tracker can be viewed here.
3. The Energy Institute (EI) is the chartered professional membership body for people who work across the world of energy. 
   Our purpose is creating a better energy future by accelerating a just, secure and low-carbon energy transition.
   We do this by attracting and developing a diverse energy workforce; convening expertise and evidence to inform energy decision making; enabling industry to make energy safer, more efficient and lower carbon.