The decarbonization of the economy is progressing more slowly than specialists consider essential, but it is moving forward.. One of the most compelling hard data regarding this process is that of the investment destined to oil production versus that destined to the construction of solar generation plants. According to the International Energy Agency, in 2013, US$623 billion (in 2022 dollars) was invested in oil production and US$127 billion in solar generation. Ten years later, in 2022, the figure is completely different: for the first time investment in solar energy (US$382 billion) exceeded that for oil production (US$371 billion).

This despite the fact that the oil sector's profits in 2022 were extraordinary. But unlike in the past, when more than half of oil companies' profits went to reinvestment in production, this proportion stood at 48% in 2022.. However, it was not such a green change: only 1% of profits went to investments in low-carbon projects. The bulk went to distributing dividends or repaying debt.

By 2023, the IEA projects that global energy investment will stand at US$2.8 trillion (billions), of which US$1.7 trillion will be invested in clean energy.