Key points:
- USD 8.7 trillion has been invested in oil and gas in the ten years since the Paris Agreement was signed, representing a major block to achieving greater global progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
- The oil and gas industry has only spent around USD 113 billion on clean energy since the Paris Agreement, despite widespread commitment by the industry to a “net zero future”. For every dollar the industry invested in clean energy, it spent 46 dollars on upstream oil and gas supply.
- More than half a trillion dollars has been spent on exploring for new oil and gas reserves, despite studies showing that new fields are not compatible with the goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C.
- Since the Paris Agreement was signed, investment in renewables has more than doubled, while fossil fuel investments have remained static. Achieving the Paris Agreement goals requires both the scaling up of clean investment and the phasing out of fossil fuel investment.
- The industry has described carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) as a “crucial enabler” of the energy transition, but has invested just over USD 15 billion in the technology since the Paris Agreement. For every dollar invested in CCUS, the oil and gas industry has invested 32 dollars exploring for new sources of oil and gas.
Progress since Paris
When the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, the world was on course for more than 4°C of warming by the end of the century. Ten years later, the world is projected to be headed for 2.7°C of warming based on current policies, and could limit the rise to 1.9°C in a best-case scenario. However, global greenhouse gas emissions have not yet peaked, and even the most optimistic 1.9°C of warming fails to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals of limiting warming to “well below” 2°C. One of the most significant reasons that more has not been achieved is inaction by the oil and gas industry.
Sustained fossil fuel investment
Clean energy investment, as defined by the International Energy Agency1Investment figures are ZCA calculations from data from IEA World Energy Investment 2025. The IEA defines clean energy as renewable power, battery storage, electricity networks, clean fuels, direct air capture, fossil fuels with CCUS, other clean power and end-use including energy efficiency., has risen 70% since the Paris Agreement, with renewable investment more than doubling, rising 108%. Yet over the same period, fossil fuel investment has fallen by only 4%, remaining consistently around USD 1 trillion per year (see figure 1). The rise in clean energy investment is not enough to achieve the Paris Agreement goals, investment in fossil fuels must also fall.
In the ten years since the Paris Agreement, USD 8.7 trillion has been invested in the oil and gas industry. Of that total, nearly two-thirds, USD 5.7 trillion, has been invested in upstream oil and gas, drilling and extraction. More than half a trillion dollars have been spent on exploring for new oil and gas supplies in conventional fields, despite multiple studies showing that new oil and gas supplies would push the world past the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement.
The oil and gas industry has continued to profit from this ongoing investment. In 2022, when oil and gas prices were high in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the industry as a whole made USD 4 trillion in profit.
Figure 1
The oil and gas industry hasn’t transitioned to clean investment
The vast majority of the oil and gas industry has committed to a “net zero future consistent with the Paris Agreement.” Despite such goals, the industry has only spent around USD 113 billion on clean energy since the Paris Agreement, 1.4% of total investment in oil and gas over this period2Calculation based on 2016-2024 data, as a detailed breakdown of oil and gas spending on clean energy in 2025 was not included in the IEA World Energy Investment report. The IEA defines clean energy investment as solar PV, wind, CCUS, bioenergy, energy storage, low-emissions hydrogen and ‘other’.. In the upstream sector alone, the industry spent 46 dollars on oil and gas supply for every dollar it spent on clean energy.
A study of the largest 250 oil and gas companies – which together are responsible for 88.3% of global oil and gas production – found that only 49 were operating renewable energy projects, responsible for about 1.4% of operational global renewable energy capacity.
The industry’s clean energy investment is also slowing, having fallen by around 25% between 2023 and 2024, to under USD 22 billion.
Figure 2
The oil and gas industry has publicly thrown its weight behind carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) as a “crucial enabler for the energy transition”. Despite perceiving the technology as crucial, the industry has spent just over USD 15 billion on the technology since the Paris Agreement3For the period 2016-2024. IEA data is not yet available for 2025.. For every dollar the industry has invested in CCUS, it has invested 32 dollars in exploration for new sources of oil and gas supply. The IEA describes CCUS as being “not on track”, with carbon capture capacity set to reach only 40% of the level needed in its Net Zero Emissions by 2050 scenario.
Despite the industry’s enthusiasm for CCUS, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has found that it is one of the most expensive options for reducing emissions from energy supply, with the least potential for reducing emissions in the near term. In addition, more than 80% of current CCUS capacity is being used for enhanced oil recovery, which increases hydrocarbon extraction.
