Oil, natural gas & divestment

This archive tracks meaningful progress on oil, natural gas, and divestment — from institutions pulling funds out of fossil fuels to policy shifts that reshape energy finance. Stories here document what’s actually changing, and who’s driving it.

French flag, for article on fossil fuel phase-out

France launches plan to ditch all fossil fuels by 2050

By / / Good News For Humankind

France just became the first country to set hard deadlines for ditching every fossil fuel: coal by 2030, oil by 2045, and gas by 2050. The roadmap was unveiled at a conference in Santa Marta, Colombia, where roughly 60 nations gathered to share their own transition plans after a global agreement stalled at COP30 last November. What makes France’s plan unusual isn’t a single bold target but the fact that it draws one clear line across all three fuels, covering everything from power plants to home heating to transport. As climate envoy Benoît Faraco noted, almost no other country has named an end date this clearly. In a moment of energy anxiety worldwide, naming the destination is itself a quiet act of leadership.

Sunset by smokestacks, for article on fossil fuel phaseout

More than 50 nations attend world-first conference on phasing out fossil fuels

By / / Good News For Humankind

Fossil fuel phaseout talks just crossed a real threshold: for the first time, more than 50 nations sat down together specifically to plan a way off coal, oil, and gas. The two-day gathering in Santa Marta, Colombia, brought together an unusually wide mix — major producers like Australia, Norway, and Canada alongside Pacific island nations like Tuvalu and Vanuatu, with Europe and emerging economies in between. No binding deals were expected, but the recommendations will feed into a voluntary roadmap being shaped under Brazil’s COP30 leadership. It’s a small, hopeful shift: producers and consumers finally talking openly about a transition that, until recently, was almost taboo to name out loud.

Wind turbines and solar panels generating power across a European landscape for an article about European renewable energy

Wind and solar generated more electricity than fossil fuels in Europe for the first time

By / / Good News For Humankind

European renewable energy from wind and solar surpassed coal and gas combined for the first time in history, supplying 30% of the continent’s electricity in 2024. That share had been less than 14% just a decade earlier, making the speed of this shift remarkable. Solar alone generated more electricity than coal across Europe for the first time ever. Carbon emissions from European power generation fell to their lowest level in decades. While challenges around energy affordability and grid infrastructure remain, the milestone marks a genuine turning point in how an entire continent powers itself.

Aerial view of the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest for an article about Ecuador oil production ending

Ecuador ends all oil and gas production for the first time in its history

By / / Archive of Human Genius

Ecuador could end all oil and gas production by 2043, shutting its final Amazon wells roughly eighty years after extraction began. The groundwork is already visible: hydropower supplies more than 85% of the country’s electricity today, and Indigenous-led court victories have steadily reshaped what’s possible. If it holds, it would show that a petrostate can choose a different future.

An oil and gas facility at dusk with visible flaring for an article about Canada methane regulations

Canada locks in rules to slash oil and gas methane emissions 75% by 2035

By / / Good News For Humankind

Canada methane regulations finalized by Environment and Climate Change Canada set a binding target to cut oil and gas sector emissions 75% below 2012 levels by 2035, among the strictest such rules in the world. The regulations require operators to detect and repair leaks, phase out routine venting and flaring, and replace estimated reporting with measured data. This matters because methane warms the planet roughly 80 times faster than carbon dioxide over 20 years, meaning faster cuts produce faster climate relief. The rules fulfill commitments made under the Global Methane Pledge and bring Canadian standards closer to U.S. regulations across a deeply integrated shared energy network.

Offshore oil platform at sunset in the North Sea for an article about the UK oil and gas ban

Britain becomes the first major economy to ban new oil and gas licenses

By / / Good News For Humankind

The UK oil and gas ban makes Britain the first major economy to end all new fossil fuel exploration licensing, a milestone the Labour government under Keir Starmer delivered as a direct campaign promise. Existing North Sea fields will continue operating, but no new exploration licenses will be issued, foreclosing extraction that could have stretched decades into the future. The move aligns British policy with the International Energy Agency’s finding that new fossil fuel development is incompatible with 1.5-degree climate targets. Paired with an £8.3 billion public clean energy company, the decision sets a precedent other major producers are now watching closely.

Aerial view of dense Amazon rainforest canopy with winding river for an article about Colombia Amazon ban — 13 words

Colombia bans all new oil and mining projects across its Amazon

By / / Good News For Humankind

Colombia Amazon ban: Colombia has announced a complete ban on new oil, gas, and mining projects across its entire Amazon biome, covering roughly 42% of the country’s national territory. The policy immediately blocks 43 oil blocks and 286 pending mining requests, making it one of the most sweeping conservation decisions any government has made in recent memory. Announced alongside COP30, the ban is framed as a binding national commitment rather than a voluntary pledge. It offers significant protections for Indigenous communities and positions Colombia as a potential catalyst for coordinated conservation across all Amazonian nations.

Aerial view of dense tropical rainforest canopy for an article about the Maya Biosphere Reserve oil field closure

Guatemala permanently closes major oil field inside protected rainforest

By / / Good News For Humankind

Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve has taken a landmark step forward as the government permanently closed the Xan oil field rather than renew its operating concession. The facility once produced nearly 90% of Guatemala’s oil while operating inside a protected national park, a arrangement conservationists long considered incompatible with the reserve’s ecological importance. The former infrastructure is now being converted into a joint military and police security hub to combat illegal ranching, logging, and drug trafficking. A dedicated .5 million conservation fund will support local communities, restoration projects, and long-term monitoring across one of the most biodiverse tropical forest corridors in the Americas.

Solar panels and wind turbines generating power on open land for an article about U.S. clean electricity

Fossil fuels fall below half of U.S. electricity for the first time on record

By / / Good News For Humankind

U.S. clean electricity reached a historic milestone in April 2025, when fossil fuels dropped below 50% of American electricity generation for the first time since the coal-powered grid emerged in the 1800s. According to energy research firm Ember, coal, oil, and natural gas fell to roughly 47% of total generation, with wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear powering the rest. This shift was driven by a 90% drop in wind and solar costs since 2010, triggering sustained investment now visible in real grid output. The milestone matters because it breaks the long-held assumption that fossil fuels are the inevitable backbone of modern electricity.

Offshore oil rig at sunset, for article on offshore drilling ban

Biden permanently bans offshore drilling in 625 million acres of ocean

By / / Good News For Humankind

Offshore drilling is now off the table across 625 million acres of U.S. coastal waters, thanks to a sweeping executive action from President Biden. The protections cover the entire East Coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific shores of Washington, Oregon, and California, and parts of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea. What makes this move different is its staying power: Biden invoked a 1953 law that legal experts say can’t easily be undone without Congress. Alongside the ocean announcement, two new national monuments in California — both championed by Native tribes — bring his total conserved lands to 10. It’s a quiet but powerful reminder that some places are simply too precious to drill, and that lasting protection is possible when law, science, and community all pull in the same direction.