Curated by Peter Schulte · Published 2026-08-26 · Last updated 2026-08-26
The fossil fuel phase-out has crossed a series of historic thresholds in a single decade.
In 2024 and 2025 alone, fossil fuels fell below half of U.S. electricity generation for the first time since the 1800s, Ireland shut its last coal plant, Britain became the first major economy to ban new oil and gas licenses, and more than 50 nations gathered specifically to plan a managed exit from coal, oil, and gas.
The shift is structural, not cyclical. Renewables now supply 30% of U.S. electricity and topped coal and gas combined across Europe for the first time in 2024. Coal’s share of India’s power capacity dropped below 50% — a level not seen since the 1960s.
These milestones are the result of binding regulations, executive bans, and corporate commitments layered on top of falling clean-energy costs. The door on new fossil development is closing, country by country.
Key takeaways
- Fossil fuels fell below 50% of U.S. electricity generation for the first time ever in April 2025, with renewables hitting a record 30% share in 2024.
- Britain became the first major economy to ban all new oil and gas exploration licenses; Colombia banned new oil and mining across its entire Amazon biome.
- Ireland, Slovakia, and New England all permanently closed their last coal-fired power plants, joining a growing list of coal-free jurisdictions.
- More than 50 nations attended the world’s first dedicated fossil fuel phaseout conference in 2026, with France announcing hard deadlines to exit all fossil fuels by 2050.
- Global mercury emissions — a direct byproduct of coal combustion — have fallen 70% since 1982, a measurable health win from decades of coal reduction.
Recovery at a glance
| Subject | Recovery | Where |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. electricity grid | Fossil fuels drop below 50% — first time since the 1800s | United States |
| Renewables, U.S. | Surpass 30% of electricity generation — all-time record | United States |
| Europe (wind & solar) | Exceed coal and gas combined for first time in history | European Union |
| Ireland | Last coal plant (Moneypoint) closed permanently | Ireland |
| Britain | First major economy to ban all new oil and gas licenses | United Kingdom |
| Colombia Amazon | Complete ban on new oil, gas, and mining — 43 oil blocks blocked | Colombia |
| India coal capacity | Drops below 50% of power mix — first time since 1960s | India |
| Slovakia | Coal-free six years ahead of schedule | Slovakia |
| New England | Last coal plant (Merrimack Station) closed permanently | United States |
| France | First country to set hard deadlines for exiting every fossil fuel | France |
| Canada methane rules | Binding 75% cut in oil and gas methane emissions by 2035 | Canada |
| Biden offshore drilling ban | 625 million acres of U.S. ocean permanently closed to drilling | United States |
| Guatemala | Xan oil field inside protected rainforest permanently closed | Guatemala |
| Germany Lusatian Lakeland | 23 lakes built across 14,000 hectares of former coal mines | Germany |
| The Hague | World's first city to legally ban fossil fuel advertising | Netherlands |
| Global mercury emissions | Down 70% since 1982, driven by coal reduction | Global |
On this page
- Why this matters
- What’s driving the comeback
- Coal’s last plants close: a continent-by-continent shutdown
- Corporate and utility commitments: closing coal on a business schedule
- The fossil fuel phase-out in policy: bans, licenses, and hard deadlines
- Protected frontiers: banning extraction from sensitive lands and waters
- Grid milestones: when renewables cross the tipping point
- The international architecture: diplomacy and the global phaseout agenda
- The outlook
- Frequently asked questions
Why this matters
For most of industrial history, the direction of energy was one-way: more coal, more oil, more gas. That direction has now reversed across multiple dimensions simultaneously — generation share, new capacity investment, exploration licensing, and international policy.
The milestones accumulating since 2022 are not incremental. They are structural breaks: the first time fossil fuels fell below half of U.S. power, the first time European wind and solar beat coal and gas combined, the first major economy banning new drilling. Firsts like these do not reverse easily.
The scale matters too. Biden’s offshore drilling ban covers 625 million acres. Colombia’s Amazon protection blocks 43 oil blocks and 286 pending mining requests. These are not pilot programs — they are the permanent closure of entire resource frontiers.
By the numbers
- Fossil fuels generated just 33% of EU electricity in the first half of 2023 — a record low at the time
- Renewables topped 30% of U.S. electricity generation in 2024, the highest share ever recorded
- Wind and solar supplied 30% of European electricity in 2024, up from less than 14% a decade earlier
- Biden’s offshore drilling ban covers 625 million acres of U.S. coastal waters
- Canada’s new methane rules require a 75% cut in oil and gas sector emissions below 2012 levels by 2035
- Duke Energy committed $130 billion to close all 11 remaining coal plants and more than double renewables capacity to 24,000 megawatts by 2030
- Global mercury emissions — closely tied to coal burning — have fallen 70% since 1982
What’s driving the comeback
The most durable wins share a common structure: policy that closes the door permanently rather than setting aspirational targets. Ireland didn’t reduce coal — it shut its only coal plant. Slovakia closed its last plant six years ahead of schedule. Britain banned new licenses outright. These are irreversible acts, not roadmaps.
Regulatory specificity is also a common thread. Canada’s methane rules are binding, require active leak detection and repair, and set a hard 2035 deadline. France’s phaseout plan names specific years for each fuel — coal by 2030, oil by 2045, gas by 2050 — rather than a single vague net-zero date. Precision makes backsliding visible and legally contestable.
Protected-area designations are doing heavy lifting on the supply side. Colombia’s Amazon ban, Guatemala’s permanent closure of the Xan oil field inside the Maya Biosphere Reserve, and Biden’s 625-million-acre offshore ban all use conservation framing to lock out extraction. This convergence of climate and biodiversity policy is relatively new and increasingly effective.
Coal’s last plants close: a continent-by-continent shutdown
The most concrete expression of the fossil fuel phase-out is the permanent closure of individual power plants — facilities that, once demolished, do not come back. What’s striking about the wave of closures documented here is its geographic breadth: Ireland, Slovakia, New England, and New Zealand’s industrial sector all crossed coal-free milestones within a few years of each other, signaling that retirement is now the default trajectory for coal infrastructure worldwide.
Ireland shuts Moneypoint, its only coal plant, after six decades
Ireland’s Moneypoint power station closed permanently in 2025, ending nearly six decades of coal-fired generation and making Ireland one of Europe’s first fully coal-free nations. The closure eliminated what had been the country’s single largest source of coal-related emissions. It marks an irreversible exit from coal for the Irish grid.
Slovakia goes coal-free six years ahead of schedule
Slovakia closed its last coal-fired power station — the Vojany plant, once the largest in former Czechoslovakia — six years ahead of its original 2030 target. The operator confirmed that Slovakia’s electricity system will now run without coal. The early closure reflects how quickly the economics of coal have deteriorated across Central Europe.
New England’s last coal plant closes permanently
Merrimack Station in Bow, New Hampshire — the final coal-fired plant in New England — ended commercial operations on September 12th following a settlement between its owners and regulators. The 480-megawatt facility’s closure makes the entire six-state region coal-free. New England now joins a short list of major U.S. regions that have permanently exited coal.
New Zealand funds $140 million switch from coal to clean steel
New Zealand committed $140 million to replace coal furnaces at its Glenbrook steel plant — its largest steelmaker — with an electric arc furnace powered by renewable energy. The single project is projected to cut the country’s total national emissions by 1%. It represents one of the largest industrial coal-to-clean transitions in the Southern Hemisphere.
Corporate and utility commitments: closing coal on a business schedule
Alongside government policy, large utilities and industrial operators have been locking in their own coal exit timelines — decisions that reshape electricity markets for decades. Duke Energy’s commitment is particularly significant: as the second-largest U.S. electric company by market value, its 2035 coal deadline and $130 billion clean-energy investment set a commercial template others will follow.
Duke Energy commits to close all 11 remaining coal plants by 2035
Duke Energy — the second-largest U.S. electric utility by market value — announced plans to shut down all 11 of its remaining coal-fired power plants by 2035 across the Carolinas, Indiana, and Florida. The company also committed to more than double its solar and wind capacity to 24,000 megawatts by 2030, backed by a $130 billion investment plan. The scale of this single corporate commitment is large enough to move national generation statistics.
India pauses all new coal plant approvals for five years
India’s Ministry of Power announced it would not consider proposals for new coal-fired power plants for at least five years, effectively clearing the runway for renewables to capture future demand growth. The pause came as India already ranked fourth globally for installed wind and solar capacity. Stopping the pipeline of new coal projects may prove as consequential as closing existing ones.
The fossil fuel phase-out in policy: bans, licenses, and hard deadlines
The most durable form of fossil fuel reduction is legal prohibition — executive bans, legislative deadlines, and licensing freezes that remove entire categories of development from the table. The stories in this section show a new policy archetype taking shape: not carbon targets buried in long-term plans, but specific, enforceable, near-term restrictions on what can be built, drilled, or explored.
Britain becomes the first major economy to ban new oil and gas licenses
Under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Britain ended all new fossil fuel exploration licensing, becoming the first major economy to take this step — a direct campaign promise fulfilled. Existing North Sea fields will continue operating, but no new exploration licenses will be issued. The ban marks a categorical policy break from the previous government’s approach of expanding North Sea development.
Biden permanently bans offshore drilling across 625 million acres
President Biden used executive authority to permanently ban new offshore oil and gas drilling across 625 million acres of U.S. coastal waters, covering the entire East Coast, eastern Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific shoreline of Washington, Oregon, and California. The protections were structured to be as durable as possible under existing law. The acreage covered is among the largest single resource-access restrictions in U.S. environmental history.
Canada finalizes binding rules to cut oil and gas methane 75% by 2035
Environment and Climate Change Canada finalized regulations requiring the oil and gas sector to cut methane emissions 75% below 2012 levels by 2035, described as among the strictest methane rules in the world. Operators must actively detect and repair leaks rather than simply report them. The binding nature of the rules — with specific detection and repair requirements — distinguishes them from earlier voluntary commitments.
France sets hard deadlines to exit every fossil fuel by 2050
France announced the world’s first comprehensive phaseout plan with named deadlines for each fuel: coal by 2030, oil by 2045, and gas by 2050. The plan was unveiled at the Santa Marta fossil fuel phaseout conference, where roughly 60 nations gathered. By specifying a year for each fuel rather than a single net-zero date, France made backsliding measurable and legally visible.
The Hague becomes the first city to legally ban fossil fuel advertising
The Hague passed an ordinance prohibiting fossil fuel promotions — for petrol, diesel, aviation, and cruise ships — across billboards, bus shelters, and other outdoor public spaces, effective 2025. It is the first city in the world to legislate such a ban. The two-year legislative process required demonstrates both the ambition and the friction involved in extending the phase-out into marketing and culture.
Protected frontiers: banning extraction from sensitive lands and waters
A parallel and increasingly important strategy in the fossil fuel phase-out is simply closing entire geographies to extraction — using conservation law, protected-area status, and executive designation to permanently remove land and ocean from the drilling queue. Colombia and Guatemala show that this approach can work at scale even in oil-producing nations with active fossil fuel industries.
Colombia bans all new oil and mining projects across its Amazon
Colombia announced a complete prohibition on new oil, gas, and mining projects across its entire Amazon biome — roughly 42% of the country’s national territory. The policy immediately blocks 43 oil blocks and 286 pending mining requests. It is described as one of the most sweeping supply-side fossil fuel restrictions ever enacted by a major oil-producing nation.
Guatemala permanently closes the Xan oil field inside its rainforest reserve
Guatemala’s government chose not to renew the operating concession for the Xan oil field, permanently closing a facility that once produced nearly 90% of the country’s oil while operating inside the protected Maya Biosphere Reserve. The decision ends an arrangement that conservation groups had long criticized as incompatible with the reserve’s protected status. The closure represents a rare case of an active, productive oil field being shut specifically because of its location inside a national park.
Coal falls below 50% of India’s power capacity for the first time since the 1960s
Coal’s share of India’s total electricity generation capacity dropped below 50% for the first time since the 1960s, a milestone in the world’s most populous country. Renewables made up nearly three-quarters of new capacity added in the first quarter of 2024. The shift reflects both the pace of solar and wind buildout and the deliberate pause on new coal approvals.
Grid milestones: when renewables cross the tipping point
Generation share milestones matter because they are self-reinforcing: once renewables cross 30% or 50% of a grid, the remaining fossil capacity faces worsening economics, fewer operating hours, and growing pressure to retire. The milestones documented here — across the U.S., EU, and individual European countries — suggest the grid tipping point is no longer theoretical.
Fossil fuels drop below 50% of U.S. electricity for the first time ever
In April 2025, fossil fuels generated less than half of American electricity for the first time since the coal-powered grid emerged in the 1800s, according to energy research firm Ember. The milestone reflects the simultaneous growth of solar, wind, and other clean sources rather than a single policy action. It represents a structural shift in the U.S. energy mix, not a seasonal anomaly.
Renewables top 30% of U.S. electrical generation for the first time
Renewable energy surpassed 30% of U.S. electricity generation in 2024, the highest share ever recorded in American history, driven by rapid growth in solar and wind alongside sustained hydropower output. The milestone confirms that the clean-energy buildout has reached a scale where it is visibly reshaping national generation statistics. Analysts describe it as a genuine structural shift rather than a temporary spike.
Wind and solar generate more electricity than fossil fuels in Europe for the first time
European wind and solar together supplied 30% of the continent’s electricity in 2024, surpassing coal and gas combined for the first time in recorded history — a share that was under 14% just a decade earlier. Solar alone posted record generation figures. The speed of the transition has exceeded most projections made at the start of the decade.
EU fossil fuel use for electricity hits a record low in 2023
Fossil fuels generated just 33% of EU electricity in the first half of 2023 — the lowest share ever recorded at that time. Coal was particularly diminished: in May 2023, it covered only 10% of EU power, and the Netherlands ran 17 consecutive days without burning any coal at all. Several EU member states hit their own coal-free milestones during the same period.
The international architecture: diplomacy and the global phaseout agenda
Individual country actions are necessary but not sufficient; the fossil fuel phase-out also requires multilateral frameworks that hold nations accountable and give smaller producers political cover to act. The Santa Marta conference and France’s announcement represent a qualitative shift in this architecture — from vague net-zero pledges to specific, fuel-by-fuel, year-by-year commitments made in front of peers.
More than 50 nations attend the world’s first fossil fuel phaseout conference
For the first time in diplomatic history, more than 50 nations convened specifically to plan a coordinated exit from coal, oil, and gas at a two-day gathering in Santa Marta, Colombia. The attendee list included major producers alongside vulnerable nations, reflecting an unusually broad coalition. The conference marks a shift from climate summits where phaseout language is negotiated away to a forum where it is the explicit starting premise.
Germany completes 60-year project turning coal mines into a 23-lake district
Germany’s Lusatian Lakeland project reached completion with the opening of Lake Sedlitz — the final piece of a chain of 23 human-made lakes covering 14,000 hectares built on land that was open-cast coal mines between Berlin and Dresden. Five of the lakes opened to recreational users in June. The project reframes post-coal land as an economic and ecological asset rather than a liability, offering a model for coal-region transition worldwide.
Global mercury emissions have fallen 70% since the 1980s
Researchers confirmed that global mercury pollution — a direct byproduct of coal combustion and mining — has declined 70% since 1982, one of the most significant environmental reversals in recorded history. The finding was based on analysis of mercury levels preserved in alpine plant leaves from the Tibetan Plateau near Mount Everest. The data provide measurable, biological evidence that decades of coal reduction are producing real-world health and ecological benefits.
The outlook
The trajectory is now self-reinforcing in ways it wasn’t a decade ago. When fossil fuels fall below 50% of a grid, the economics of the remaining plants worsen — they run fewer hours, earn less revenue, and become harder to justify keeping open. The U.S. and EU have crossed that threshold; India is approaching it.
The remaining question is whether the international diplomatic architecture can match the pace of national action. The 2026 Santa Marta conference — the first ever convened specifically around phasing out fossil fuels — suggests the conversation has shifted from whether to how. France’s hard deadlines and Colombia’s Amazon ban both arrived at that same gathering.
The caveats are real. Existing fields continue operating in Britain and elsewhere. Demand for oil and gas persists in industrial and transport sectors far beyond the power grid. But the evidence from these 21 stories is that the phase-out is no longer a projection — it is a documented, measurable, accelerating reality.
Frequently asked questions
What is the fossil fuel phase-out and how fast is it happening?
The fossil fuel phase-out refers to the coordinated retirement of coal, oil, and gas infrastructure through plant closures, drilling bans, and binding policy deadlines. As of 2025–2026, it is accelerating rapidly: fossil fuels fell below 50% of U.S. electricity for the first time ever, Britain banned all new oil and gas exploration licenses, and more than 50 nations gathered at the first dedicated phaseout conference in Santa Marta, Colombia.
Which countries have banned new oil and gas drilling?
Britain became the first major economy to ban all new oil and gas exploration licenses under the Starmer government. President Biden permanently closed 625 million acres of U.S. coastal waters to new offshore drilling via executive action. Colombia banned all new oil, gas, and mining projects across its entire Amazon biome — roughly 42% of its national territory — blocking 43 oil blocks and 286 pending mining requests.
Which countries and regions have gone coal-free?
Ireland shut its last coal-fired plant (Moneypoint) in 2025. Slovakia went coal-free in 2024, six years ahead of its 2030 target. New England closed its last coal plant (Merrimack Station in New Hampshire) in September 2025. The Netherlands ran 17 consecutive days without burning coal in May 2023. Germany is completing its coal-to-lakes land transition, and Duke Energy has committed to closing all 11 of its U.S. coal plants by 2035.
What share of electricity do renewables now produce in the U.S. and Europe?
Renewables surpassed 30% of U.S. electricity generation in 2024 — the highest share in American history. In Europe, wind and solar together generated 30% of continental electricity in 2024, exceeding coal and gas combined for the first time ever; that share was under 14% just a decade earlier. In the EU, fossil fuels generated a then-record-low 33% of electricity in the first half of 2023.
What was decided at the fossil fuel phaseout conference in Santa Marta?
More than 50 nations attended the world’s first conference convened specifically to plan a managed exit from fossil fuels, held in Santa Marta, Colombia in 2026. France used the occasion to announce the world’s first comprehensive phaseout plan with hard deadlines for each fuel: coal by 2030, oil by 2045, and gas by 2050. The gathering marked a diplomatic shift from negotiating whether to phase out fossil fuels to planning how.
What environmental benefits have already resulted from reduced coal use?
Global mercury emissions — closely linked to coal combustion — have fallen 70% since 1982, confirmed by researchers analyzing mercury levels in alpine plant leaves from the Tibetan Plateau. India’s coal capacity share has dropped below 50% for the first time since the 1960s, reducing particulate pollution for hundreds of millions of people. Germany has converted former open-cast coal mines into a 23-lake recreational district covering 14,000 hectares, demonstrating that post-coal land can become a public asset.
About this article
🤖 This article is AI-generated, based on a framework created by Peter Schulte.
🌍 It aims to be inspirational but clear-eyed, accurate, and evidence-based, and grounded in care for the Earth, peace and belonging for all, and human evolution.
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