Trump's Iran conflict has accidentally supercharged the renewable energy boom
Higher oil prices from Trump's Iran conflict are making nations switch to renewable energy for security and cost, not climate reasons.
Donald Trump set out to stop climate action, but his military conflict with Iran has had the opposite effect. Oil prices now sit around $100 a barrel, some 40 per cent higher than before the conflict.
Higher oil prices are making renewable energy a better deal than ever. Nations are rushing to build solar and wind capacity for cheaper energy and energy security, not primarily to save the climate.
Solar and wind are set for record growth in the next six years, with solar accounting for more than three-quarters of new capacity. Solar became the cheapest energy source in history five years ago.
Pakistan grew solar from 2 per cent of its power in 2019 to 24 per cent today. Global investment in renewables now tops $2 trillion a year, double what goes to oil, gas and coal combined.
- 11,000 people
- Tuvalu population
- 2 metres above sea level
- Elevation
- 90 per cent at high tide
- Land loss by century end
- 2.8 degrees above pre-industrial
- Temperature track
Why it mattersHigh energy costs force nations to switch to cheaper renewables faster than climate policies alone could ever achieve, proving that economic self-interest can drive climate progress.
AustraliaAustralia is leading global climate negotiations at COP 31 in Turkey, pushing nations to embrace electrification, a goal now more achievable thanks to falling renewable energy costs.
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