Aerial photo taken on Aug. 19, 2020 shows wind turbines at the Jiucaiping scenic area in southwest China's Guizhou Province. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

China, Japan, Germany and the United States are among the nations set to be the biggest winners as investors look for the best places in the global fight against climate change, Singapore media quoted a recent study as saying.

The report, released by the Straits Times on Tuesday, cited an analysis by the Swiss global wealth and asset manager, Lombard Odier, and Oxford University's Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.

According to the analysis, China and the United States are set to benefit from the green transition, due to their strong green manufacturing and technological capabilities.

China in particular was playing an increasingly central role in the wind and solar markets, potentially offering the highest growth in both markets for investors, said the study released on Nov. 30.

China also had the highest exports of renewables by volume, while North American and European green energy firms generated a higher proportion of their revenues through exports, the report added.

The renewable energy industry has become one of the most vibrant and fast-changing sectors of the global economy, attracting hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars of investment annually, a figure set to grow quickly as costs fall further for wind turbines, solar panels, electrolysers and batteries.

"So, solar panels and wind turbines, batteries and electrolysers -- those countries that have invested early in those products and those capabilities like Germany, China, the United States, Japan, Italy and Spain. They're the ones that are going to lead the future," Matt Ives, a senior research associate at the Smith School, said at the briefing.