UNEZA lifts annual transition investment pledge to $156 billion

The 89-member Utilities for Net Zero Alliance (UNEZA) pledged at COP31 in Türkiye to invest at least $156 billion a year in transition infrastructure, up from a previous $148 billion commitment.

The pledge covers generation, storage and transmission. Members installed a record 21,000 km of new grid lines in 2025, 50% more than in 2024. The alliance expects to mobilize $1 trillion of transition investment between its launch at COP28 in 2023 and the end of the decade.

For allocators, the pledge is a capital-expenditure pipeline rather than an investable vehicle, implying average spending of roughly $1.75 billion a year per member. The annual pledge has risen from $117 billion at launch to $148 billion and now $156 billion. At COP30 in Brazil the alliance floated an infrastructure investment fund to support members deploying $82 billion annually in grids and to attract institutional capital.

COP31's presidency is aiming to electrify 35% of energy demand by 2035. That target, ESG Capital Daily previously reported, implies lifting electricity's share of final energy use from roughly 23% to 35% in nine years. Martin Pibworth, chief executive of SSE and co-chair of UNEZA, said the target would boost momentum.

Miguel Stilwell d'Andrade, chief executive of EDP, said: "We need renewables, grids, storage and flexibility to advance together, supported by faster permitting, stronger supply chains and effective regulation."

Five years at $156 billion, from 2026 through 2030, would contribute about $780 billion of the $1 trillion goal. The 2023 to 2025 years at lower earlier targets would provide the balance, assuming members deliver the minimum pledged.