As the world works faster to achieve carbon neutrality, it’s clear that developing nations are key to whether the global energy transition succeeds or fails. Many of these countries have abundant renewable resources and strong plans to increase their use, but they still get much less investment than developed countries.

In fact, less than a quarter of the $807 billion invested in renewables globally in 2024 went to the least developed countries.

Despite recent efforts by governments to provide more financial resources, global public funding alone won’t be enough to cover the energy transition’s investment needs. Private sector support is also essential. However, it’s especially hard to attract private investment to developing and emerging economies because of higher perceived risks (whether real or not) and uncertain returns.

Since most capital invested between 2013 and 2020 went to mature markets, building investor confidence in developing and emerging markets is essential for progress.

Energy planning that includes practical financial strategies can be game-changing. Many countries still treat planning as a separate technical task, unrelated to decision-making and investment. But when energy planning is strategic and collaborative, it lowers risk, shows long-term policy commitment, and builds the investor confidence needed to bring in large-scale funding.

This isn’t just a theory. Brazil has demonstrated how it works. The country has attracted private capital, increased renewable energy use, and strengthened its domestic supply chains through integrated planning and coordinated financial strategies.

Development finance institutions, like the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES), were involved early in the planning, ensuring that policy goals and financial tools aligned. This early coordination helps create the stable, predictable, and transparent environment that private investors look for. Today, Brazil has one of the cleanest energy mixes in the world, with around 90% of its electricity and half of its total energy supply coming from renewable sources.

Institutions like Brazil’s Energy Research Office and national regulatory agencies provide the resources and skills needed to support the country’s Energy Ministry in planning, development, and implementation. Regular renewable energy auctions also send clear investment signals and support the development of a strong project pipeline. A stable regulatory framework and well-defined institutional roles improve coordination among stakeholders. Planning tools, such as the National Energy Balance, the Ten-Year Energy Expansion Plan, and the Long-term Energy Strategy, have also been crucial for data-driven decision-making and long-term scenario analysis.

In contrast, many developing countries lack the institutional capacity and resources to fully use energy planning tools. In some cases, the planning process is fragmented across agencies and separate from broader development strategies. In others, limited access to data, modeling tools, and technical expertise makes it difficult to turn energy and climate goals into practical plans. Financial actors are often involved late in the process, separating theoretical planning from practical implementation.

To address this, Brazil’s government and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) recently launched the Global Coalition for Energy Planning (GCEP). The idea came from Brazil’s 2024 G20 Presidency and aims to help countries develop strong, investment-ready energy plans that can attract private capital to increase renewable energy growth in the developing world. While GCEP is inspired by Brazil’s experience, it doesn’t aim to replicate it. Instead, it seeks to co-develop tailored solutions that reflect national contexts, capabilities, and priorities.

We are at a turning point. To keep the Paris Agreement alive, and in line with the outcomes of the first Global Stocktake at the 2023 U.N. climate conference in Dubai (COP28), the world agreed to triple renewable power capacity by 2030. With Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)—national plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris Agreement—still being submitted at COP30, the conference will show if governments are serious about this task. By showing that the energy transition is not a cost but a strategic investment in energy security and socio-economic development, we can encourage countries to set more ambitious renewable energy targets.

However, targets are only useful if they can be achieved. This means investing not only in renewable power generation but also in the grids and infrastructure needed to deploy it at scale.

The world has the technology, knowledge, and incentive to accelerate the shift to a renewable energy system. But to make this happen, countries must bridge the gap between ambition and action—moving the conversation on energy and climate from slogans and aspirations to concrete, practical implementation. That means developing credible, investment-ready plans that can turn commitments into real-world progress.

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