Principles for Global Fossil Fuel Phase-out

The We Mean Business Coalition's 'Fossil to Clean' campaign provides a framework for phasing out fossil fuels by 2040. It outlines specific requirements for demand-side companies to end unabated fossil fuel use, for producers to cease new exploration and reach near-zero methane emissions by 2030, for financial institutions to halt new fossil fuel funding, and for governments to decarbonize power systems by 2035-2040.

• Demand-side companies, including power generators, are urged to phase out the use of unabated thermal coal, oil, and gas across their operations by 2040 at the latest. For those in advanced economies or with high clean energy availability, the target for unabated thermal coal should be 2030.
• Fossil fuel producers should commit to a total cessation of new oil and gas exploration and the development of new fields. Additionally, they are called upon to eliminate all technically avoidable methane emissions by 2030, which is estimated to result in a 75% reduction in such emissions.
• Oil and gas producers are encouraged to publish Climate Transition Action Plans (CTAPs) that target zero production by 2050, with interim declines in production volume and energy-use products by 2030 and 2040 based on a 2021 baseline.
• Financial institutions should immediately stop new financial flows to the coal value chain and any new oil and gas exploration. They are advised to phase out existing financial flows for unaligned oil projects by 2030 and unaligned gas projects by 2040.
• National governments are called to decarbonize global energy systems by the 2040s, specifically aiming for 100% decarbonized power systems by 2035 in advanced economies and by 2040 in other countries.
• Governments are urged to reorient financial flows by reforming fossil fuel subsidies and implementing carbon pricing. The document notes that G7 leaders committed to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies by 2025, despite IMF data showing subsidies increased to $7 trillion in 2022.

APA

We Mean Business Coalition (2023). Principles for Global Fossil Fuel Phase-out. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Fossil-to-Clean-Principles-for-Global-Fossil-Fuel-Phase-out_FINAL.pdf

Chicago

We Mean Business Coalition. Principles for Global Fossil Fuel Phase-out. 2023. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Fossil-to-Clean-Principles-for-Global-Fossil-Fuel-Phase-out_FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=We Mean Business Coalition |title=Principles for Global Fossil Fuel Phase-out |date=September 2023 |url=https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Fossil-to-Clean-Principles-for-Global-Fossil-Fuel-Phase-out_FINAL.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wemeanbusinesscoalition2023principles, author = {{We Mean Business Coalition}}, title = {{Principles for Global Fossil Fuel Phase-out}}, institution = {We Mean Business Coalition}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Fossil-to-Clean-Principles-for-Global-Fossil-Fuel-Phase-out_FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }