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As leaders gather at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, they do so at a moment of real consequence for humanity’s shared future. The choices made now about energy, finance, and cooperation will shape not only climate outcomes, but economic resilience and global stability for decades to come.
The evidence is no longer in dispute. Continued expansion of coal, oil, and gas is incompatible with planetary stability and long-term prosperity. Fossil fuels remain the primary driver of global warming and ecosystem degradation, creating material risks to food systems, public health, infrastructure, and national economies.
These risks are no longer theoretical. Extreme weather losses are driving sharp increases in insurance premiums, entire regions are becoming uninsurable, and climate risks are increasingly showing up in how countries are rated by financial markets and in company accounts.
At the same time, the global energy transition has entered a decisive phase. Renewable technologies are now cheaper, faster to deploy, more resilient, and more accessible than fossil fuel alternatives across most regions of the world, though access and deployment remain uneven. In 2024, renewables accounted for more than 90% of new global power capacity additions, a clear signal that markets are moving faster than politics. In many markets, building new fossil fuel infrastructure is no longer economically rational; it increasingly represents a stranded asset risk.
Renewables are creating jobs at a faster pace than fossil fuels. According to the International Energy Agency, clean energy sectors added roughly 1.5 million jobs in 2023, while fossil fuel industries added just 940,000 jobs, underscoring where the future of work in energy now lies.
Yet despite these realities, the fossil fuel economy continues to exert outsized political and financial influence. This was evident at COP30 in Belém, where negotiations once again failed to deliver a clear, binding commitment to phase out fossil fuels, and where one in every 25 attendees represented fossil fuel interests. The gap between what science demands and what politics delivers remains dangerously wide.
Still, leadership is emerging. The Belém Declaration on the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels signaled a shift toward coalitions of countries choosing action over paralysis, guided by science and informed by Indigenous knowledge. Initiatives led by Colombia and The Netherlands to advance a Fossil Fuel Phase-Out Conference show how progress can be accelerated without abandoning the annual United Nations climate summits. Strengthening global cooperation remains essential, even as new coalitions accelerate action where progress has stalled.
For business and finance leaders, the message should be unmistakable. The question is no longer whether the fossil fuel era will end, but how. Who will lead, and who will be left behind? A just and orderly phase-out that does not unfairly burden nations least responsible for the crisis is not only a moral imperative; it is a strategic economic opportunity.
Treating fossil fuels as instruments of short-term geopolitical leverage may appear decisive, but it entrenches fragility, delays diversification, and misreads the future of energy security.
A whole-planet approach is essential. That means phasing out planet-harmful fossil fuel subsidies, redirecting finance toward renewable energy and storage, and investing in living forests through platforms such as the Tropical Forest Forever Facility. Addressing climate change, food systems, health, and economic stability in silos is no longer viable.
Science must guide integrated action, and financial systems must begin to reflect the true value of the systems on which prosperity depends.
Davos has long been where economic futures are debated and shaped. Real leadership means aligning capital, policy, and innovation with what science tells us is necessary and what justice demands is fair. Recent decisions by the United States to step back from international climate cooperation signals a dangerous turn inward at precisely the moment when collective problem-solving is most needed. These choices will reverberate far beyond climate, affecting development, security, and trust across the global system.
History shows that cooperation at scale is possible. The world came together to protect the ozone layer. It mobilized against apartheid. It built institutions like the International Criminal Court to uphold international justice. We can—and must—do so again.
The tools are ready. The economics are compelling. The science is settled. What remains is the courage to lead.
The post At Davos, Phasing Out Fossil Fuels Is No Longer Debatable appeared first on TIME.
