News & Views: The Energy Crisis That’s Supercharging Global Renewables
Wednesday, 3 June 2026 | By Climate High-Level Champions
In this month’s edition: renewables generated more electricity than coal for the first time in a century; an energy expert unpacks why fossil fuels aren’t shrinking as fast as they should; and Chile is exporting its electric bus solutions to Ethiopia.
Renewables are gaining on fossil fuels
With fossil fuel markets in turmoil and the Strait of Hormuz at a standstill, it would be easy to feel tense about the state of global energy. Yet May brought increased optimism that the crisis has supercharged the global renewables boom and made the clean energy transition unstoppable.
According to energy think tank Ember, renewables generated more electricity than coal worldwide in 2025. The last time that happened was 1919, when global electricity demand was nearly 300 times smaller and the dominant clean power source was hydropower. Coal output has dropped before – during the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic – but always because the economy stopped needing it. This time, demand kept rising and coal still fell, because clean power crowded it out. Solar and wind together covered 99% of the growth in global electricity demand last year, meaning almost every kilowatt-hour of new power the world used came from clean sources. Ember's analysis suggests that if current trajectories hold, fossil fuel generation will plateau and begin a sustained decline from the early 2030s.
That shift sits at the center of Axis 1 of the Global Climate Action Agenda: Transitioning Energy, Industry and Transport which aims to reshape the systems that power the global economy and build the infrastructure of a post-fossil fuel world: Power grids. Battery storage. Sustainable Fuels. Green industry. Electric transport.
Renewables can also keep the lights on after dark
The argument that renewables can't keep the lights on after dark has been a fixture of energy debates for two decades. However, this month, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reported that solar and wind paired with batteries can now deliver round-the-clock electricity at prices below the global cost floor for new coal and well below new gas almost everywhere. The battery packs that store solar and wind power for the grid (known as stationary storage) fell 45% in price in a single year. Meanwhile, electric vehicles displaced 1.7 million barrels of oil per day in 2025 – a figure on track to triple to 5 million barrels per day by 2030. Coal generation fell in both China and India for the first time in 52 years after achieving clean energy records.
Santa Marta: Nearly 60 countries plan to phase out fossil fuels
Numbers like these can impact what's possible in the climate transition, and, at the end of April, that shift showed up in Colombia.
Nearly 60 countries gathered in Santa Marta – a major coal export hub – for the First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels. Energy security drove the urgency: three-quarters of countries depend on fossil fuel imports, and the Hormuz crisis has made the cost of that dependence impossible to ignore. Every gigawatt of clean power built at home is one that can't be cut off from abroad.
Three outcomes from Santa Marta matter most for the Action Agenda:
A shared commitment to develop national fossil fuel transition roadmaps which are country-led plans for disentangling economies and societies from coal, oil and gas. For example, France presented a draft roadmap during the conference which would phase out coal by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050.
A commitment to tie Santa Marta's transition plans to the work already underway through Axis 1 of the Action Agenda. A voluntary steering group composed of countries already leading on fossil fuel phaseout will carry the work forward between conferences. The group has a link to the ‘Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels’ Activation Group under the Action Agenda, meaning the country-level conversations in Santa Marta plug straight into the year-round implementation work that runs through the Champions' mandate.
Support for the UNFCCC climate process. Santa Marta provided space for the granular, country-by-country work of designing clean energy transition pathways. The conference outcomes will set the tone for the next phase of global climate talks: at the June climate meetings in Bonn and London Climate Action Week. The COP30 Presidency has also committed to bringing forward a transition away from fossil fuel roadmap towards COP31 in Antalya.
| Read the conference key takeaways
“We've been trying to cut with only one half of the scissors”: Tzeporah Berman on the Supply Side of the Energy Transition
Tzeporah Berman, founder of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, says the world has spent decades trying to curb fossil fuel demand – through efficiency, electrification, and clean power – without equivalent rules on supply.
“For 30 years, we've been trying to cut with only one half of the scissors: cutting the demand and not the supply,” she said. Under the Action Agenda, her organization is working to scale solutions to halt the expansion of fossil fuels, including moratoriums on new extraction licenses.
After Santa Marta, Berman highlighted how the conference talks could steer the next phase of the clean energy transition.
| Read her interview here
COP31 and the IEA Partner on Energy Agenda
Days after Santa Marta, the incoming COP31 Presidency announced a strategic partnership with the International Energy Agency (IEA) at a High-Level Energy Transition Dialogue. The IEA will deliver policy advice on the role of electrification and energy efficiency in strengthening security and affordability; the energy implications of building a zero-waste economy; reducing methane emissions; and the expansion of access to clean cooking.
Opening the Dialogue, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell warned that “the fossil fuel cost crisis now has its foot on the throat of the global economy.” But the crisis is also reshaping the politics of energy in real time. "Those who've fought to keep the world hooked on fossil fuels are inadvertently supercharging the global renewables boom.”
Stiell highlighted what governments must do now: avoid locking in long-term fossil fuel dependence in their response to the current crisis, break the link between electricity prices and fossil fuels so that cheap renewables actually bring down bills, and get finance flowing to developing countries that want to embrace clean energy but are blocked by debt. "Coalitions of the willing are already forging ahead," he said, citing the progress in Santa Marta. "In key sectors right across the Action Agenda, COP31 in Türkiye will provide a global stage to pick up the pace."
| Watch the meeting
How an electric bus fleet in Chile is being scaled to Ethiopia
Ten years ago, Chile had two electric buses. Today it operates over 4,000 and growing, which is the largest fleet outside China. Now that experience is being studied abroad: from financing and infrastructure to workforce training. Last month, Ethiopian officials endorsed a Chile-led declaration to cut transport energy demand by 25 percent by 2035, with one-third of that energy coming from renewable sources and sustainable biofuels.
The two countries are operating under very different constraints, but facing a shared challenge: building not just electric transport systems, but the people and institutions needed to run them. Across the Action Agenda, a network of cities and transit agencies is working to speed that learning through training and exchange.
| Read the full story
COP31 Champion on carbon markets and reducing emissions
In an interview with Carbon Pulse, COP31 Climate High-Level Champion Samed Ağırbaş explained the need for increased alignment of carbon markets which help businesses offset their greenhouse gas emissions. Here is an excerpt from the article:
The Action Agenda has already helped to advance work on the four pieces that need to come together to develop carbon markets, said Türkiye's Climate High-Level Champion Samed Ağırbaş. Those four pieces are: robust accounting, market infrastructure that enables trading, demand for credits, and strengthened cooperation under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. "Building on the progress made at COP30, our priority for COP31 is to translate this architecture into real-world delivery," Ağırbaş said.
"The central challenge – and the central opportunity – is harmonisation. Right now, we have a patchwork of carbon accounting standards, measurement systems, and market rules across different countries and regions. That fragmentation creates uncertainty, raises costs, and holds back the investment we need."
Focus will be on building the trust needed to ensure that different systems can recognise each other and connect, he said. This includes aligning leading standards like the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, and making compliance and voluntary markets more compatible.
| Read the full interview on Carbon Pulse
In case you missed it
COP31 President Designate H.E. Murat Kurum and President of Negotiations H.E. Chris Bowen released their first joint letter outlining how Türkiye and Australia will work together on COP31 in close collaboration with the Pacific, “anchored in strong commitment to the multilateral system.” They also outlined COP31’s priority areas within the Action Agenda: electrification and the energy transition, zero-waste and circular economy, resilient cities and infrastructure, sustainable agriculture and food systems, green industrial transformation, climate finance, and strengthening resilience in vulnerable regions and ecosystems. While all 480+ Action Agenda initiatives will continue to be convened under the 2026-2030 five-year vision – and will have progress updates elevated throughout the year by the Climate High-Level Champions – each year’s incoming COP Presidency has the opportunity to inform the key objectives under the Action Agenda alongside input derived from global initiatives. Read more.
At the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial earlier this month, COP31 President Designate Kurum urged governments to increase the pace of electrification. The announcement came alongside the latest report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), which calls for a global 2035 electrification target backed by USD 1.2 trillion in annual grid investment – more than double current levels. The report was produced in collaboration with the COP30 Presidency and endorsed by the incoming COP31 Presidency. Read more.
The COP31, COP30 and COP29 Presidencies invite all stakeholders to submit inputs by 30 June 2026 to inform discussions and help jointly shape the Belém Mission to 1.5. The Mission was conceived in the context of the Global Mutirão Decision at COP30, aimed at enabling ambition and implementation of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and national adaptation plans (NAPs), to reflect on accelerating implementation, international cooperation and investment. Read more.
The COP30 Presidency is conducting a survey to better understand how key stakeholders perceive the opportunities, expectations, and barriers related to climate action – and it's asking everyone to weigh in. The anonymous survey, conducted with independent research firm GlobeScan, takes 15 minutes and is open until June 21. Link to survey.
Two-thirds of global energy investment in 2026 will go to clean energy and electricity infrastructure, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s latest report. Total energy investment is projected to reach USD 3.4 trillion, with USD 2.2 trillion flowing to grids, storage, renewables, nuclear, efficiency and electrification. Oil investment fell for a third consecutive year. The shift is being driven by conflict in the Middle East, which the IEA calls the largest energy security crisis in history. Around 20 countries have already announced new efficiency policies in direct response. Read more.
Brazil and Türkiye recently co-hosted a high-level event to advance the Belém Health Action Plan from COP30 into COP31. Part of Action Agenda Axis 5 on “Fostering Human and Social Development,” the plan helps countries strengthen health systems against climate shocks like heatwaves and floods. Endorsed by 33 countries and 50 organizations, it also aims to take climate-health planning beyond hospitals and into broader economic and urban policy. Read more.
On 15 June, an international study visit to the Ahr Valley near Bonn, Germany, will commemorate the 5th anniversary of the devastating 2021 Ahr flood – one of Western Europe's worst climate-induced disasters. The visit offers Bonn Climate Conference (SB64) participants an opportunity to exchange lessons that are relevant to global efforts on disaster risk management, climate emergency response and building just transitions. Register here.
Mark your calendar
Rio Nature & Climate Week, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1 - 6 June.
Zero Waste Forum, Istanbul, Türkiye, 5 - 7 June
Bonn Climate Conference (SB 64), Bonn, Germany, 8 - 18 June.
Daring Cities 2026, Bonn, Germany, 10 – 12 June.
G7 Summit, Évian, France, 14 - 16 June.
Our Ocean Conference, Mombasa, Kenya, 16 - 18 June
London Climate Action Week, London, UK, 20 - 28 June.
Innovate4Cities Conference, Nairobi, Kenya, 21 - 24 June
UCLG Congress and World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders, Tangier, Morocco, 22 - 25 June
IEA Annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency, Montreal, Canada, 29 - 30 June.
2026 OECD Green Growth and Sustainable Development Forum, Paris, France, 1 – 2 July
UN Convention to Combat Desertification, COP17, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 17 - 28 August
São Paulo Climate Week, São Paulo, Brazil, 3 - 7 August 2026
World Water Week, Stockholm, Sweden, 23 - 27 August
UNFCCC Climate Week 4, Baku, Azerbaijan, 7 - 11 Sept
