IEA says investments in low-carbon technologies falling far short of climate goals. The coronavirus pandemic will slash energy sector investment by about $400bn this year — the biggest ever annual fall — with the International Energy Agency warning that the world could grow more dependent on cheaper, dirtier fuels that undermine global climate goals. Spending is due to plunge in every major sector, from oil, gas and coal to renewables, the Paris-based body said in a report published on Wednesday that takes into account project data and announcements from governments and companies. At the start of 2020, global energy investment was set to grow 2 per cent, marking the largest annual rise in six years. But with governments around the world forced to lock down their economies and halt travel to slow the pandemic, spending will fall 20 per cent compared with 2019 levels. Global energy investment in 2020 will be just over $1.5tn compared with just under $1.9tn in 2019, the IEA said. “This Covid crisis will lead to the biggest fall of global energy investment in history. We have never seen such a big decline,” Fatih Birol, head of the IEA, told the Financial Times. “The entire system has been hit”. Financial Times