The Importance of Policy in Delivering on the Clean Energy Economy

This fact sheet from the World Resources Institute compares renewable energy policies and progress across China, Germany, India, Japan, and the United States, highlighting the correlation between policy predictability and industry growth.

• Germany's clean energy industry growth is attributed to a comprehensive, stable, and predictable policy framework, which includes a comprehensive renewable energy law with feed-in tariffs (FITs), tax incentives, and grid interconnection provisions.
• China's policies and incentives focused on efficiency and cost reduction led to exponential manufacturing growth, though this resulted in global oversupply and some instances of lower quality.
• The United States lacks long-term predictability at the national level, with many key incentives requiring re-authorization every 2-3 years. This patchwork of short-term policies is described as less effective and more costly for driving the clean energy industry.
• India's growth as a global competitor has been hindered by inconsistent policies at the state and national levels, as well as limitations in finance access and infrastructure.
• Japan's solar installations temporarily stagnated after long-term solar PV support policies were eliminated in the mid-2000s in favor of nuclear energy, although the country maintained high export capacity.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). The Importance of Policy in Delivering on the Clean Energy Economy. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/resources/factsheet_for_ocn_clean_tech_launch_-_fmted.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. The Importance of Policy in Delivering on the Clean Energy Economy. n.d. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/resources/factsheet_for_ocn_clean_tech_launch_-_fmted.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=The Importance of Policy in Delivering on the Clean Energy Economy |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/resources/factsheet_for_ocn_clean_tech_launch_-_fmted.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendimportance, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{The Importance of Policy in Delivering on the Clean Energy Economy}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/resources/factsheet_for_ocn_clean_tech_launch_-_fmted.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }