Clean energy expansion could see a slowdown in the coming years, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned on Tuesday in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
"As some countries’ market shares in clean energy technologies grow, they will introduce additional taxes to protect their own industries," said Fatih Birol, a Turkish economist and energy expert.
"This could slow down growth for some time. I believe that in the next three to four years, the growth in clean energy will face a setback and slow down to some extent," he added.
Birol highlighted the growing production and use of clean energy technologies such as solar and wind energy, electric vehicles and batteries worldwide. Investments in clean energy are not solely driven by climate change concerns but also by declining costs, he said, with solar energy now the most affordable option for new power plants globally.
He added that electric vehicles are also becoming increasingly cost-competitive, saying: "Currently, the price of electric vehicles in China has almost reached the same level as that of regular vehicles."
"Countries now place great importance on this issue because they know that clean energy is the future industry. "For this reason, I believe that clean energy will continue to grow, but I must also mention that there are many challenges."
According to an IEA forecast, renewable energy consumption across the power, heat, and transport sectors is expected to rise by nearly 60% from 2024 to 2030. This growth will increase the share of renewables in final energy consumption to almost 20% by 2030, up from 13% in 2023.
Asked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to boost fossil fuel production and withdraw the U.S. from the Paris agreement, Birol said: "These are actually very recent. We need to look at the results and details of these decisions."
"But when we look at past years, even when the U.S. wasn’t part of this agreement, there was a decrease in its emissions," he noted. "I hope these trends will continue in the coming months and years."
Shortly after his inauguration on Monday, Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate change agreement. He also signed a letter to the U.N. formally notifying it of the withdrawal, aligning with his administration’s energy policies of prioritizing fossil fuel development, though scientists warn it risks a climate disaster.
The IEA chief underscored the growing importance of critical minerals, including copper, in the global transition to clean energy.
"With the global shift to clean energy, the importance of critical minerals is also rapidly increasing," Birol said. These minerals are essential for industries like electric vehicles and wind energy.
Birol explained that leading mining companies, predominantly in Australia, the U.S. and Canada, which previously relied on coal, are now channeling their investments toward critical minerals like copper and lithium.
"There is tremendous growth here. Just as oil is crucial today, tomorrow, for example, copper will be a similarly important mineral," he said.
He noted that many companies are keen to invest in extracting and processing these minerals, adding: "In fact, Türkiye is quite experienced in this field. I hope our country and its entrepreneurs will also have a share in this growth."
Türkiye has made significant progress in the sector, establishing the Rare Earth Elements Research Institute in 2020 to explore the potential of critical minerals. In 2022, the discovery of the world’s second-largest rare earth element reserve in the central province of Eskişehir gave further momentum to the country’s development in this area.
Türkiye is now preparing to build an industrial facility in Eskişehir to process 570,000 tons of rare earth elements annually.
