November 30, 2023
- Among the 19 signatories for which data are available, public RD&D investments for clean energy increased by only 16 percent during Mission Innovation 1.0.
- The United Kingdom was the only country that met its goal to double investments in clean energy innovation. Six others reduced their spending.
- For Mission Innovation 2.0, members promised to step up their collective ambition, but they backed off from MI 1.0’s specific goals.
- Two years later, to the extent members report accurate information at all, it is clear most countries are still woefully underinvesting in clean energy RD&D. So, on the evidence, Mission Innovation has been mostly talk with little action.
- It’s not too late for member countries to remedy this. But policymakers must understand that accelerating clean energy innovation remains the single most important step governments can take to help address global climate change.
- To regain credibility, Mission Innovation members must report reasonably accurate, timely, and transparent data. And they must increase clean energy RD&D at least twice as fast as GDP growth until they achieve funding levels equal to 0.1 percent of GDP.