Fossils fuels are no longer the largest recipient of investment in the energy sector, the latest report from the International Energy Agency said Tuesday.



Investment in the electricity sector received the largest level of investment for the first time ever, growing its share by 12 percentage points to 43 percent between 2014 and 2016. In comparison, over the same period, investments in upstream (exploration and production) oil and gas fell 44 percent.

"The key finding is that (the) global energy industry spent last year 12 percent less than the previous year," Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, told CNBC on Tuesday. "A big decline," he described.

According to the IEA, the global drop in energy investment was mainly caused by falling unit capital costs in upstream oil and gas but also due to reduced drilling and less fossil fuel-based power capacity.

Geographically, China continued to be the largest recipient of energy investment, representing 21 percent of the global share. However, according to Birol from the IEA, the surprising story was India, jumping 7 percent from 2015 to 2016 in terms of energy investment.

"India is moving to the center stage of global energy affairs," he said.