
For years, Australians rallied under the red banner of #StopAdani. It was one of the most visible and passionate climate movements the country has ever seen. Activists protested, blockaded, petitioned, and pressured banks not to fund the controversial Carmichael coal mine in Queensland.
Yet, despite all the resistance, Adani went ahead. The mine was built. Coal was being shipped. Last year, almost 10 million tonnes of coal was dug up, and this year, Adani aims to further ramp up the output.
So, on the surface, it would look as if the campaign failed.

Why?
Because the fight was never really about Adani.
Adani – and every other fossil fuel company – exists to serve a demand. As long as that demand remains high, someone, somewhere, will find a way to dig up and sell more coal. That’s the brutal economic reality of our world.
And here’s the hard truth – one that the author of this piece, who assisted with launching a local Stop Adani Geelong campaign, has had to come to terms with:
If we truly want to stop coal, oil, and gas, the answer isn’t blocking supply – it is starving demand.

Fossil fuels: a symptom – not the disease
Coal, oil, and gas have dominated our energy systems for over 250 years. They’ve been optimised, subsidised, and embedded into global economies. But their dominance has always been driven by one thing: demand.
As long as there are customers, there will be suppliers.
What happens when demand collapses? …which is inevitably going to happen – not because enthusiastic activists in Australia campaign to shut down the coal mines, but because renewables are now cheaper, and therefore pushing coal out of the market.
It wasn’t protests that killed the petrol car sales in Norway. It was the electric vehicles taking over new car sales. Market signals, not protest chants or blockades in the streets, drive shifts in our modern world.
When demand shifts, industries collapse
History has shown us time and again that when demand disappears, entire industries collapse:
- Whale oil was once the primary source of lighting fuel. When kerosene and electricity came along, the whaling industry collapsed almost overnight.
- CDs and DVDs were industry giants, but once streaming services emerged, demand evaporated, and the supply chain crumbled.
- Coal in Europe was once the backbone of industrialisation. Today, coal plants are closing at record speed because wind and solar power are cheaper. England has closed down all its coal plants for good.
This is a key lesson for climate activists: Stopping one coal mine, or one gas import terminal, won’t cut it. If we really want to win this battle for a climatesafe future for all, we don’t need to fight every coal mine, every oil pipeline or every gas project. We need to make them irrelevant by shifting demand to better, cheaper and clean alternatives.
Adani didn’t win
Adani built the Carmichael mine because demand for coal still exists. With India and China relying heavily on coal, companies like Adani will keep investing in fossil fuels for as long as the market remains profitable.
When demand collapses, Adani will quickly abandon its coal projects and shift its billions elsewhere. And as things stand today, there’s only one real ‘elsewhere’: renewable energy, where Adani, by the way, already is a major player. Adani long ago acknowledged that the future lies in solar and wind, even as it continues to profit from coal.
But hello! This isn’t just about Adani. It’s about every fossil fuel company that is still extracting, processing, and selling carbon-intensive energy. As they see it themselves they aren’t driving the climate crisis, they are simply responding to the world’s energy demands.
The real power to change the system doesn’t lie with them. It lies with us.
If demand is the engine of the fossil fuel industry, then shifting that demand is the most powerful action we can take.
We can’t do this as individuals. This is about large-scale market forces, government policies, and business leadership. But as individuals, we still have a huge role to play, because when enough of us demand new products and carefully begin to consider how we spend our dollars, it sends new signals to the industries and to the policy and law makers.
Here’s what it takes:
- Consumers – you and I – make fossil fuels irrelevant
- We choose green electricity over fossil-powered providers
- We drive demand for electric vehicles and public transport
- We support businesses that prioritise sustainability in their supply chains
2. Businesses that lead with sustainable innovation gain market shares
- Companies committing to using 100% renewable energy have better sales
- Large-scale purchasers (like governments and corporations) shift procurement to carbon-neutral options
- Investment in sustainable materials and circular economy practices accelerate
3. Governments drive demand with policy
- Just like feed-in tariffs made solar power cheaper, new policy incentives drive exciting new sustainable technologies
- Mandates for EV adoption, like those in Europe and China, continue to expand worldwide, regardless of Trump’s misguided policies in the USA
- Public investments increasingly support clean infrastructure instead of propping up fossil fuels
The most powerful climate action: Be the demand
Every dollar spent is a vote for the kind of future you want. Whether it’s choosing a renewable energy provider, buying sustainable products, or supporting businesses that are actively decarbonising… every single decision sends a market signal.
The next time you hear about a new coal mine, oil refinery, or gas pipeline, ask: what’s keeping it alive? And the answer will most likely be: the demand that fuels it.
The only way to truly stop fossil fuels is to make them obsolete. And we all have a role in making that happen.
A low-carbon future isn’t something we wait for – it’s something we demand.
It is something you demand. Not just from politicians, but from businesses, markets, and entire industries
So here’s what we are suggesting, from Centre for Climate Safety:
Stop thinking of climate action as blocking the supply. Start thinking of it as starving the demand.
Because, in the end, the future we create is the one we demand.
‘If you want to create change, don’t fight the old world, but start building a new one.’
~ Buckminster Fuller
This blogpost was inspired by Gareth Kane’s 6-minute podcast episode:
To accelerate the creation of a sustainable economy, we must be focussing on ways of stimulating demand for renewable energy, electric vehicles and secondary materials, to name but three. Gareth talks about how individuals, organisations and policy makers can do their bit.