What investors and governments do with their money sets the direction of the global economy. Mainstream money was directed to fossil fuel for more than a century, leaving clean energy technologies swirling in the eddies. But during 2020 the flow of money dramatically changed course. The stream to fossil fuel slowed to a trickle and now oil and gas is at risk of being left high and dry.
What investors and governments do with their money sets the direction of the global economy. Mainstream money was directed to fossil fuel for more than a century, leaving clean energy technologies swirling in the eddies. But during 2020 the flow of money dramatically changed course. The stream to fossil fuel slowed to a trickle and now oil and gas is at risk of being left high and dry. The holders of the purse strings have it in their power to pivot to renewable energy and let it take the world in a new direction, this time on a sustainable course
FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES
The covid-19 pandemic has brought forward the moment when oil production will peak and decline for ever, spooking some majors into looking for more sustainable business models
OPPOSING OUTLOOKS
The future price of oil and gas is still up for debate, with some more optimistic producers sticking by their guns
KEY QUOTE
The constant refrain in the oil and gas sector that “industry fundamentals are solid” is just wrong.
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COVID-19 may have reduced emissions in the short-term, but much more needs to happen to slash fossil fuel use to meet climate targets
By competing with each other in clean transport technology, Europe and China have the opportunity to keep oil prices, demand and production down, says Carl Pope, environmentalist and climate advisor to Michael Bloomberg
A finance mechanism that retires coal power stations and replaces them with new renewable energy capacity is gathering steam in the United States. But challenges remain in making this seemingly simple solution mainstream
Debt markets and capital markets both notoriously struggle to prepare for external shocks. The covid-19-induced economic crisis is no exception, says Dileimy Orozco from climate change think tank E3G
The world’s development banks are funnelling ever-greater volumes of finance into clean energy — but the challenge of shifting entire economies away from climate-wrecking activity and towards actions that align investment goals with those of the Paris Agreement requires a more holistic approach
The gas package and renovation wave in the European Green Deal raise new opportunities for ending Europe’s dependence on gas. We need to think about what this means for energy poor households, writes Louise Sunderland from the Regulatory Assistance Project
To create demand for sustainable finance, governments should integrate climate criteria into their procurement and in how they draft policies and regulations
As economic activity declined under the pandemic so did demand for electricity. Fossil fuel generation was squeezed off the grid by renewable energy projects with lower marginal costs. Fears that the higher proportion of fluctuating supply would destabilise power systems proved unfounded and grids remained stable. If renewables are to be tasked with keeping the grid secure, alternative mechanisms, already available, must be introduced soon