
It is time to cut through the noise and focus on the numbers and stories that matter. The green transition is unstoppable, it is inevitable, and here is why.
“The world now invests almost twice as much in clean energy as it does in fossil fuels. And almost everywhere, solar and wind are now the cheapest sources of new electricity — and the fastest growing in history.”
~ António Guterres, UN Secretary-General
The global energy landscape is undergoing a seismic shift, but it’s being muddied by a torrent of misinformation. Claims that renewables are too expensive, unreliable, or incapable of powering the modern world still dominate certain media outlets. Yet the facts tell a very different story.
In 2024, over 700 GigaWatts of new solar and wind energy capacity was installed globally. That is nearly twice as much as the total nuclear capacity built over the past 70 years.
Renewables are no longer the alternative – they are the new mainstream.
What’s driving this transformation is not ideology but simple economics. Solar panels and wind turbines have become the cheapest sources of energy in history, even when accounting for storage solutions like batteries. In 2024 alone, the price of solar modules dropped by 34 per cent, and the cost of large-scale battery storage continues to plummet.
Measured by lifetime costs, no energy source – not oil, gas, or coal – can compete with solar panels and onshore wind turbines.
Thanks in large part to an increased amount of solar and wind energy in the European electricity grid, average electricity prices fell by 16 per cent in 2024 compared to 2023.
In 2023 alone, China invested over $90 billion in wind and solar energy projects, surpassing the combined renewable energy budgets of several major economies. This positions China not only as a green energy leader but also as a dominant exporter of renewable technologies, creating millions of jobs in the process. China is hitting its renewables targets six years early.
In the USA, renewable installations broke records last year – installed capacity went up 47 per cent on 2023.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, two of the fastest-growing jobs in the United States have been wind turbine service technicians and solar panel installers, projected – before Trump’s intervention – to grow by over forty percent this decade. Meanwhile, coal mining jobs have been steadily declining due to automation and reduced demand. The clean energy revolution just keeps rolling, whether Trump and his allies like it or not.
California has become a global leader in renewable energy, with over 33 percent of its electricity now coming from renewables. The state’s ambitious climate policies have attracted billions in private investment and created over half a million clean energy jobs, proving that sustainability can drive economic growth.
In Australia renewables made up 46 per cent of electricity in fourth quarter of 2024, and coal went below 50 per cent for the first time ever.
And in the United Kingdom wind energy was the largest generator of energy – 30 per cent – for the first time ever.
“I believe society has reached a tipping point beyond which it is unthinkable not to deal with climate change, pollution and environmental degradation. (…) That may not make the technical challenges any easier, but it creates a virtuous circle between the inevitability of the transition, the attraction of talent, the tipping of the balance of risk in favour of net-zero solutions, and progress towards net zero.”
~ Michael Liebreich, clean energy analyst
True cost of inaction
Governments and investors are waking up to the reality that fossil fuels can no longer compete without massive subsidies – subsidies that are increasingly under scrutiny as the true cost of inaction on climate change becomes clear.
In the 2023–24 financial year, Australian federal and state governments provided a total of $14.5 billion in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. This represents a 31 per cent increase from the $11.1 billion recorded in 2022–23. Globally, it was $7 trillion.
In that same year, fossil fuel companies donated over $1.8 million to Australia’s two major parties.
Recent reports have highlighted the severe economic consequences of failing to address climate change. Notably, a study by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA), in collaboration with the University of Exeter, warns that without immediate action, the global economy could experience a 50 per cent reduction in GDP between 2070 and 2090 due to climate-related catastrophes such as fires, floods, droughts, rising temperatures, and ecological collapse.
This projection is among the more alarming estimates, and it’s important to consider it within the broader context of economic assessments on climate change. For instance, a 2024 study published in Nature found that even with drastic CO₂ emission reductions starting immediately, the world economy is already committed to an income reduction of 19 per cent by 2050 due to 38 trillion dollars in damages from wild weather, floods and draughts each year.
Additionally, research from the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2024 estimated that a 1°C increase in global temperature could reduce world GDP by 12 per cent.
While these figures vary, the consensus among experts is clear: the economic costs of inaction on climate change are substantial. The credibility of these findings is supported by rigorous methodologies and the reputations of the institutions involved.
However, it’s essential to recognise the inherent uncertainties in long-term economic forecasting, especially concerning complex systems like the global climate and economy. The overarching message is that proactive measures to mitigate climate change are not only environmentally prudent but also economically beneficial in the long run.

Disinformation billboard published by the fossil-fuel funder lobby group Advance Australia. In Australia it is legal to publish misleading billboards if it is classified as ‘political content’, but renewables are not ‘costing us the Earth’. They are cheaper, they will reduce our emissions and they play a critical role in our race against the escalating global heating and extreme weather crisis.
Disinformation persists
Unfortunately people in Australia are largely unaware of this development, primarily due to widespread disinformation – deliberate misinformation – spread via social media, newspapers, and television outlets such as Sky News Australia. Despite the global momentum for renewables, the disinformation persists, amplified by vested interests clinging to their outdated energy systems.
Sky News goes to great lengths to portray renewables as unreliable, expensive and ineffective, while continuing to warn viewers that wind turbines are dangerous and unreliable, while amplifying farmers’ resistance to transmission towers. The narratives about wind turbines killing wildlife or solar farms degrading landscapes are weaponised for one reason only: to stall progress.
Yet, for every anecdote of resistance against renewables, there are countless examples of communities thriving thanks to clean energy solutions – lowering electricity costs, creating jobs, and reducing emissions.
This is the story the Australian public needs to start hearing. If media won’t tell it, you and I will have to start doing it! Spread the word. Change the story.
→ The Guardian – 16 January 2025:
Global economy could face 50% loss in GDP between 2070 and 2090 from climate shocks, say actuaries
“Report by risk experts says previous assessments ignored severe effects of climate crisis.”
→ Potsdam Institute – 17 April 2024:
38 trillion dollars in damages each year: World economy already committed to income reduction of 19 % due to climate change
“The world economy is already committed to an income reduction of 19 % until 2050 due to climate change, a new study published in “Nature” finds.”
→ National Bureau of Economic Research – May 2024:
The Macroeconomic Impact of Climate Change: Global vs. Local Temperature
“Exploiting natural global temperature variability, we find that 1°C warming reduces world GDP by 12%.”
Europe’s emissions down

Good news from Europe: the rapid spread of solar panels, batteries, and wind turbines led to a 19 per cent drop in emissions from the power sector in 2023, and last year it dropped further 13 per cent.

In 2023, wind turbines produced more electricity in the EU than fossil gas for the first time.
Renewables made up 48% of the EU’s power generation mix in 2024, while nuclear contributed 24%. Fossil fuels comprised just 28% of the total – the lowest share ever.
Meanwhile, the average day-ahead wholesale electricity price was €82 per megawatt, a 16% decline from 2023 levels.
In the UK, wind power is expected to form the backbone of the country’s electricity generation by 2030. Fossil fuels made up only 29% of the electricity supply, while renewables reached a record-high of 45%. Last year, the UK became the first advanced economy to quit coal altogether.
Germany in 2024 achieved its cleanest electricity mix ever, with renewables powering 62.7% of net electricity generation. For the first time since 1962, Germany operated an entire year without nuclear power, proving we can build a future powered by safe, sustainable energy without relying on outdated and risky technologies.
Germany’s bold plan to double solar capacity by 2030 shows what’s possible with clear targets and strong community support.

Australia: 40% renewables in the grid
In Australia, close to 40% of electricity in the National Electricity Market came from renewables in 2023 – a remarkable growth from only 15% six years earlier, in 2017.
Every third Aussie household now have solar on their rooftops. That’s making Australia a world leader when it comes to solar energy per capita.
In South Australia, wind met 45% of the state’s electricity needs in the 12 months to end-September 2023. Rooftop solar contributed another 20%, and large solar farms 6%. That is 72% all together. At times, rooftop solar output alone exceeds the state’s power demand.
South Australia’s renewable energy performance is impressive, and worth sharing as a case study on what’s possible in other states, given the necessary vision and the political will. This has been mainly achieved with private capital, rather than with taxpayers’ funds.
Nearly 7 out of 10 Australians want a quick transition away from Australia’s large coal and gas sector to clean energy, according to a major United Nations study done last year – the Peoples’ Climate Vote.
The message is clear from everywhere (except where the fossil fuel barons rule): renewables are the future – and nuclear belongs in the past.
“Home to 1.9 million people and the city of Adelaide, South Australia is playing an outsized role in the energy transition. Aside from getting 72% of its electricity from wind and solar over the past 12 months, the state has pioneered new technologies — including grid-scale batteries and ‘synthetic inertia’ — and set the benchmark for what’s possible with rooftop solar. And it’s not done yet. Among other projects, the state is adding a green hydrogen-fuelled power plant to its energy mix as part of its plans to get to 100% net renewables by 2030. It should reach that milestone by 2027, according to the transmission network operator.”
~ The Progress Playbook, 3 October 2024
“None of this was ever meant to be possible, let alone feasible. It wasn’t that long ago that anything more than 10 per cent wind and solar would “wreck the grid” and “cause widespread blackouts”.”
~ Ketan Joshi
United Nations Chief António Guterres:
“Incentivise the green transition, accelerate the shift”

“Who pays the price for climate destruction around the globe? Not the fossil fuel industry pocketing profits and taxpayer subsidies as their products wreak havoc. Everyday people suffer, with their lives and livelihoods; with higher insurance premiums, volatile energy bills, and higher food prices,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in a briefing speech to the UN General Assembly on 15 January 2025.
“To those in business, finance and beyond who remain committed to credible climate action, despite all the pressures we are seeing, I say: You are on the right side of history. Keep it up.
And to Governments, I say: Get behind them. Provide the policy and regulatory certainty business needs. Address barriers to action. Incentivize the green transition. And accelerate the shift from voluntary pledges to mandatory rules.”
“On the climate front, the world now invests almost twice as much in clean energy as it does in fossil fuels. And almost everywhere, solar and wind are now the cheapest sources of new electricity — and the fastest growing in history,” Guterres said.
→ Video recording – 30 minutes:
Priorities for 2025 – UN Chief Briefing | United Nations
🌎💚 Biden's top climate advisor says America's green transition is unstoppable 🚀! Even Trump can't reverse the momentum 🙅♂️💡 #GreenTransition #ClimateAction #Sustainability 🌟💚 www.wired.com/story/even-t…
— gaspingenemyofgod.bsky.social (@gaspingenemyofgod.bsky.social) January 12, 2025 at 3:29 AM
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“Global energy transition: It is unstoppable politically”
“The return of Donald Trump has raised anxieties in sustainability circles that the global energy transition will be thrown into reverse this year, fed by campaign promises to “drill, baby, drill” and end the “green new scam.” Other climate-skeptic candidates outside the US—for example, in Germany, Canada, and Australia—are also likely to win elections in 2025, as global decarbonization metrics still lag scientific net-zero pathways. But the global energy transition survived the first Trump administration, and it will survive the second, too. The difference is that while in 2017 the global energy transition was just leaving the station, heading into 2025 it has reached escape velocity.”
~ Eurasia Group’s 2025 Top Risks Report – see also GZERO’s video report
Trump's wild claims on renewables yesterday are a reminder of how misinformation slows progress. #WindPower is clean, efficient, and a critical part of phasing out #FossilFuels. The future isn’t in clinging to outdated systems—it’s in innovation. 🌍💨 #GreenTransition #ClimateAction #Renewables
— Simon Holmström (@simonholmstrom.bsky.social) January 8, 2025 at 9:00 PM
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