| Muqsit Ashraf, Group Chief Executive, Accenture Strategy

| Roberto Bocca, Head, Centre for Energy and Materials; Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum

The 2025 edition of the Fostering Effective Energy Transition report arrives amid growing geopolitical, technological and climate-related disruption.

Rather than a single transition, the world is undergoing a broader transformation – redefining how energy is produced, consumed and governed. This is being driven by mounting climate risks, accelerated innovation, fractured global cooperation and rising pressure to deliver reliable, affordable and low-emission energy systems.

The Energy Transition Index (ETI) offers a long-term view of how energy systems evolve across countries, building on 15 years of energy transition benchmarking at the Forum. Early progress, particularly in Europe, was fuelled by climate ambition, falling renewable costs and growing public support. In many emerging and resource-rich economies, energy security and equity were more pressing. Over time, national priorities have expanded, with strategies increasingly shaped by supply chain resilience, industrial policy and competitiveness goals.

The 2025 ETI reflects this evolving reality. Clean energy investment surpassed $2 trillion, and 65% of countries improved their performance. Yet progress remained uneven. Advanced economies and emerging Europe focused on infrastructure and grid upgrades, while emerging Asia advanced through rising investment and innovation, and Sub-Saharan Africa improved most in regulation and policy. Systemic constraints – from limited institutional capacity to financing and infrastructure barriers – continued to hamper progress, especially in low-income economies with fast-growing demand and constrained capital access.

Today’s transition is not linear. Energy systems are being restructured in response to diverging national priorities, and decentralization and digitalization are creating new supply and consumption models. Elsewhere, industrial policy, energy sovereignty and mineral security have come to the forefront. These shifts do not displace climate ambition but increasingly embed it within broader goals for resilience, competitiveness and development.

Looking ahead, transformation will require more than innovation. Energy systems must be resilient, flexible and able to scale clean technologies, improve efficiency, secure critical inputs and reduce emissions from legacy infrastructure. Setting targets is no longer enough – capacity for delivery must be actively built amid global uncertainty.

Technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), advanced storage and decentralized infrastructure are accelerating change but also increasing pressure on power systems, supply chains and regulation. As AI, quantum computing and industrial digitalization evolve, countries must harness their potential without overwhelming already-strained systems.

There is no single blueprint. Countries will follow different paths at different speeds. Ensuring a durable and inclusive transformation requires alignment between ambition, finance and delivery – guided by market signals, grounded in local realities and supported by international cooperation.

The 2025 ETI offers a data-driven tool to align ambition with action and build more resilient, equitable and sustainable energy systems. Developed with Accenture and key data partners, it reflects shared insights into global energy challenges and opportunities.