Phasing down vs phasing out fossil fuels: What are the arguments?

Nov 21, 2023

The G7 agreed to accelerate a phase-out of fossil fuels earlier this year. Image: Unsplash/Albert Hyseni

Ian Shine

Senior Writer, Forum Agenda

Our Impact

The Big Picture

Explore and monitor how Energy Transition is affecting economies, industries and global issues

A hand holding a looking glass by a lake

Crowdsource Innovation

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

Energy Transition

Graphic illustrating the fossil fuel production gap.

Chances of limiting temperature rises show signs of becoming more remote. Image: UNEP

Image: X/@UNEP

Discover

How is the World Economic Forum fighting the climate crisis?

Graphic illustrating the government plans and projections in global coal production.

Coal production will peak in 2030 while oil and gas will peak in 2050, based on current government plans. Image: UNEP

Have you read?

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

More on Energy Transition
See all

Have we reached peak greenhouse gas emissions?

Homi Kharas and Wolfgang Fengler

December 8, 2023

Explainer: What is climate justice?

Ewan Thomson

December 8, 2023

Why green hydrogen could play a major role in powering our sustainable future

Sundus Cordelia Ramli

December 7, 2023

COP28 and the world 'on track' to triple renewables. Top energy stories of the week

Roberto Bocca

December 6, 2023

1:47

This is a new kind of wind turbine

Lithium is not oil: A critical minerals perspective on what makes a resilient energy transition

David G. Victor

December 5, 2023

Phasing down vs phasing out fossil fuels: What are the arguments?

Ewan Thomson

Ian Shine

Share:

Explore and monitor how Energy Transition is affecting economies, industries and global issues

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

Energy Transition

Have you read?

For the developing world to quit coal, rich countries must eliminate oil and gas faster – new study

Have we reached peak fossil fuel? These charts show how 2023 could be a new era for power

IEA: electric cars, clean energy policies to drive peak fossil fuel demand by 2030

Don't miss any update on this topic

Related topics:

Share:

The Agenda Weekly

More on Energy Transition
See all

Ian Shine

Share:

.chakra .wef-1nk5u5d{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;color:#2846F8;font-size:1.25rem;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-1nk5u5d{font-size:1.125rem;}}Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

Energy Transition

Have you read?

For the developing world to quit coal, rich countries must eliminate oil and gas faster – new study

Have we reached peak fossil fuel? These charts show how 2023 could be a new era for power

IEA: electric cars, clean energy policies to drive peak fossil fuel demand by 2030

Don't miss any update on this topic

Related topics:

Share:

The Agenda .chakra .wef-n7bacu{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-weight:400;}Weekly

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

The Agenda Weekly