MEETING THE MOMENT: The Speed & Scale team is off to Climate Week NYC, the world’s largest annual climate gathering, at a critical moment for our global community. It’s a time of exciting opportunities and hard realities all at once. On one side, we’re seeing dramatic growth in clean energy and unprecedented global access to affordable solar, wind, and storage. On the other, we’re witnessing the devastating toll of persistent global warming, from the lethal summer heatwaves in Europe to the mass tragedy in Nepal.
Our task—to speed the clean energy transition—is not an easy one. It calls for strategic thinking, infused by the best possible data, from our colleagues and experts at Climate Week and around the world. We believe the path forward will be steered by three converging forces: the growing demand for electrical power; the energy-driven shifts in geopolitical power; and the dynamic rise of renewables’ market power. As always, we’re asking ourselves:
Where are we doing well, and how can we continue to scale?
Which areas demand more attention, and how can we accelerate their progress?
Where we are today
Ahead of New York’s Climate Week, we’ve updated the Speed & Scale Tracker. The big picture is concerning, with overall emissions continuing to rise. But there are also some bright spots since our last progress report in April:
EVs. The global EV fleet expanded by a whopping 35 percent last year, to 77 million. As oil prices spiked, electric car sales set quarterly records in 50 countries this spring; in Australia, Brazil, India, and Vietnam, year-over-year sales doubled. The IEA recently raised its 2026 EV forecast to 29 percent of global sales.
Electric Trucks. The world’s total grew by more than half in 2025, to 3.2 million. While tech and cost barriers linger at scale, China has accelerated adoption and is rolling out more than two-thirds of the fleet.
Solar and Wind. Solar generation racked up another banner year in 2025, expanding by 18 percent. In 2025, for the first time in more than a century, renewables overtook coal as the leading source of electricity worldwide. Fossil power generation dipped for the first time since the pandemic.
Storage. Battery capacity grew by more than 3x in 2025. While we’re still lagging our 2035 target, the trajectory is showing signs of life. With storage costs falling 90 percent since 2010 (and by nearly half last year alone), batteries can now shift at least a third of each day’s new solar into the evening.
Among the areas that need more innovation and investment, here are a few higher-impact ones:
Electric buses. The relentless fall of battery pack prices will help overcome this challenge. In the meantime, policy incentives in China and the EU have driven the growth in the global fleet (WRI, BloombergNEF).
24/7 carbon-free power. Hydro, nuclear, and geothermal face an array of barriers, from high costs and interconnection challenges to geographical constraints (US DOE, Net Zero Insights, MIT).
Clean cement. The bulk of cement emissions derives from chemical processes in its production. While novel production methods are under development, carbon capture and storage remains the primary pathway toward decarbonization—and an expensive one (RMI, SEI).
Clean steel. Access to cheap green hydrogen and abundant clean electricity may be our best bets to scale low-carbon primary steel. Improved biomass supply chains and investment in carbon capture technologies could also move the needle (Rhodium).
A price on methane. Over 150 countries, accounting for more than half of methane emissions from human activity, have pledged to mitigate the problem. But implementation is lacking, despite studies showing that 30 percent of methane emissions from fossil fuel operations could be reduced at no added cost (IEA).
Onward!
The path forward demands that we build. We need to build clean transportation, clean grids, and clean industries. We need to build fossil-free fertilizers for our food and clean fibers for our clothes. Not least, we need to build in new protections for our forests and oceans, nature’s invaluable carbon sinks.
Finally, we must build to displace fossil fuels and cut their heat-trapping greenhouse gases. While scaling clean energy is essential, it doesn’t automatically solve the problem. To reach net zero in time, we must simultaneously retire coal and phase down gas.
As we join forces at Climate Week NYC, let’s redouble our resolve to move further and faster toward a cleaner, healthier world for all the billions of people upon it. They deserve no less.
