“Oil reserves in the ground can no longer be viewed as money in the bank,” he explained, highlighting that changes witnessed so far this year to energy demand and energy use as a result of the measures enforced to control the spread of COVID-19, may have irreversibly changed the energy landscape.
Kingsmill Bond, Energy Strategist at Carbon Tracker, agreed the pandemic is likely to have brought forward the peak for fossil fuels and advanced the transition. With it, he said, investor thinking had moved from “denial, to acceptance and enthusiasm” – a message to policy makers about changing investor preferences. “Markets are a lead indictor [sic] of the change that is coming to geopolitics; ignore their message at your peril,” he said.
About Irena
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
With a mandate from countries around the world, IRENA encourages governments to adopt enabling policies for renewable energy investments, provides practical tools and policy advice to accelerate renewable energy deployment, and facilitates knowledge sharing and technology transfer to provide clean, sustainable energy for the world’s growing population.
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