June 20, 2019
As Canada pushes forward with its climate change mitigation commitments, public and private investment will orient towards clean growth infrastructure and technologies. In our report Growing Clean: Investment Flows in Low-Carbon Technology to 2030, we ask key questions: how sizeable is the investment opportunity for low-carbon technologies from 2020-2030? To what extent will Canadian investment in these technologies grow over this decade? And which clean technologies are best poised for rapid growth? Our analysis helps identify the size of this impending domestic opportunity by providing projections of low-carbon investment flows through 2030.
Key Findings:
- Canadian demand for low-carbon technologies will double through 2030, compared to today’s levels: the size of the clean technology investment opportunity will reach a cumulative $184 billion from 2020 to 2030
- Investment in low-carbon technologies will climb from an historical annual average of $11 billion in the pre-2020 era, to an average of $22 billion annually through 2030
- Particularly striking is the rate of growth in low-carbon technology investment, which is outstripping all Canadian investment by a factor of almost 6
- Investment flows in low-carbon technologies through to 2030 represent a sizeable domestic opportunity, allowing for growing the economy while improving environmental outcomes
- Post-2020 will see a manageable reallocation of capital spending: over the 2020-3030 time period, total capital expenditure related to new low-carbon solutions equates to 14% of total Canadian investment flows for all energy production and consumption, compared to 8% in the pre-2020 era
- Clean technologies are poised for growth, with decarbonized electricity leading the way with 54% of the $184 billion investment. Low-carbon vehicles, building efficiency & electrification, and industrial decarbonization will claim between 13% and 16% respectively, with renewable fuels representing 1% of the total investment.
