Is this the beginning of the end for fossil fuels?

The author contends that record-breaking temperatures, falling fossil fuel prices, and increased renewable energy investments are facilitating a shift away from fossil fuels. While the International Energy Agency reports a decoupling of economic growth from greenhouse-gas emissions, the text notes that many governments remain dependent on fossil fuels. The document highlights the role of global movements like Break Free in resisting fossil-fuel projects to ensure the world meets the temperature limits established in the Paris agreement.

• The urgency of transitioning from fossil fuels is driven by the need to adhere to the United Nations climate agreement in Paris, which sets a hard upper limit of 2°C for global warming and pursues a limit of 1.5°C.
• NASA data indicates that 2015 was the hottest year on record, with February 2016 temperatures reaching 1.35°C above the 1951-1980 baseline.
• The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that global energy-related CO2 emissions have remained stable for two consecutive years, indicating that economic growth and greenhouse-gas emissions have decoupled.
• The fossil fuel industry is facing economic pressure, evidenced by a two-thirds decline in oil prices over 18 months affecting companies like Shell, BP, and Statoil, and the bankruptcy protection filing of Peabody, the world's largest coal company, following a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants in China.
• Investment in renewable energy reached approximately $329.3 billion in the previous year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

APA

Parekh, P. (2016). Is this the beginning of the end for fossil fuels? World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/is-this-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-fossil-fuels/

Chicago

Parekh, Payal. Is this the beginning of the end for fossil fuels? World Economic Forum, 2016. https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/is-this-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-fossil-fuels/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Parekh |first1=Payal |title=Is this the beginning of the end for fossil fuels? |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=19 April 2016 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/is-this-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-fossil-fuels/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{parekh2016this, author = {Parekh, Payal}, title = {{Is this the beginning of the end for fossil fuels?}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2016}, month = apr, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/is-this-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-fossil-fuels/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }