{"id":30913,"date":"2026-06-04T18:49:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T16:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lesrencontreseconomiques.fr\/debats-idees\/power-after-oil\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T11:46:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T09:46:44","slug":"power-after-oil","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.lesrencontreseconomiques.fr\/en\/debats-idees\/power-after-oil\/","title":{"rendered":"Power After Oil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Written by: Mads Christensen, Executive Director of Greenpeace International<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the post-World War II geopolitical structures shift before our eyes, we are left with few anchors to navigate this chaos. But even in the messiest of times, some truths remain self-evident: that our 20th-century progress was built upon an engineered dependency on fossil fuels. It has colonized our economies, our politics, and the very last corners of our public and private imagination.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It has also fueled the deep inequities and injustices we face today, undermining what should have been the 20th century&#8217;s most remarkable political achievement: the universal recognition of human rights. So, if there is one line to emphatically draw under the 20th century, it is this: the time for holding Big Oil to account is long overdue.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The transition away from fossil fuels must be accelerated, with wealthy nations\u2014bearing the greatest historical responsibility\u2014leading and funding the global phase-out of coal, oil, and gas. It is only through a Just Transition that we can avoid repeating the colonial, extractive patterns that have long dictated our modern economies, and ensure we do not leave anyone behind. The global architecture of the 21st century must be built on social justice, global cooperation, and the unwavering commitment to preserve our planet for present and future generations.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Energy Transition as a Mandate for Peace<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The good news is that the energy transition is already being propelled forward by sheer, unstoppable momentum, proving that a fully renewable pathway is not just technically feasible, but economically superior. To just give one figure, since 2015, global solar generation has skyrocketed 11-fold [1], while the cost of photovoltaic electricity has plummeted by 90% since 2010 [2].<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Driving the final nail into the coffin of the fossil fuel era, recent global energy shocks\u2014from Ukraine to the Strait of Hormuz\u2014have exposed our structural dependency for what it is: a massive macroeconomic and security liability. And while ordinary families face soaring costs, polluters reap record rewards: in a single year, just five oil majors cleared over USD 100 billion in excess profits [3]. This is textbook war profiteering at the direct cost of human lives, proving that the fossil fuel industry treats global instability not as a tragedy to be mitigated, but as a business model to be milked. The only antidote to this volatility is a decentralized, renewable grid, that is immune to geopolitical blackmail and difficult to weaponize.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">From Pipelines to Platforms: The New Resource Monopolies<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But as historic as this technological transition is, changing our infrastructure is not enough. We\u2019ve seen how a tiny handful of industrial players holding total control over a foundational human resource can warp our democracies, fracture our communities, and hijack our collective future. If we do not apply the lessons of history, we will repeat them.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The grand promise of the 21st century, AI, is seducing us into the same mistakes we made with Big Oil with a handful of Big Tech companies rapidly reshaping the global economy, holding unprecedented power and causing unprecedented damage. It is not just that their insatiable data centers are devouring catastrophic amounts of energy and water, threatening to hijack the essentials regular families and businesses need, and forcing dirty fossil fuel plants to stay open longer\u2014or even re-open\u2014just to train their algorithms. There is a much larger, more systemic problem at play. Tech oligarchs are using the exact same playbook as the oil barons before them: concentrating power, creating structural dependencies, and lobbying regulators to look the other way while privatizing historic profits.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like Big Oil, Big Tech now commands quasi-monopolies across the entire global value chain, from cloud provision and microchips to consumer apps, social media, and e-commerce. They are seizing control of our digital infrastructure, monopolizing natural resources, and dictating our public conversations and daily lives. And just like the good old practice of Big Oil purchasing political immunity, Big Tech billionaires are busy building strategic and financial alliances with decision makers whenever they can.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">New Internationalism in The Post-Fossil Era<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The warning is stark, and the mandate before us is absolute: If we simply change our economic fuel without changing the rules of power, we will trade 20th-century oil oligarchs for 21st-century tech barons. We must dismantle this overreach, transforming AI and technology into regulated public goods that actively elevate human welfare rather than exploit it.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But governing either of these frontiers\u2014the digital or the ecological\u2014is impossible through fragmented national policies. In the gaping vacuum of moral leadership, there is an opportunity for forward-thinking decision-makers and industries to stand up, lean in, and agree to an updated set of collective rules. The era of regulatory bypasses, international tax loopholes, and institutional inertia must end, replaced by a strict &#8216;polluter pays&#8217; mandate that channels innovation toward the public good.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We already possess the blueprints, the capital, and the regulatory tools to build a fair, resilient future for people in the 21st century. Leaders face a defining choice: cling to 20th-century competition, extraction, and intimidation, or design the architecture of the 21st.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The line has been drawn. It is time to cooperate.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[1] International Energy Agency: https:\/\/www.iea.org\/data-and-statistics\/charts\/global-renewable-generation-by-source-2015-2025<br\/><br\/>[2] International Renewable Energy Agency: https:\/\/www.irena.org\/-\/media\/Files\/IRENA\/Agency\/Articles\/2025\/Renewable-Power-Costs-in-2024-Infographic.pdf<br\/><br\/>[3] Oxfam International: https:\/\/www.oxfam.org\/en\/press-releases\/fossil-fuel-companies-projected-earn-almost-3000-second-2026-while-families-struggle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","cat-theme":[976],"cat-axe":[],"class_list":["post-30913","blog","type-blog","status-publish","hentry","cat-theme-economie-finance"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Power After Oil - Les Rencontres \u00c9conomiques<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mads Christensen, directeur ex\u00e9cutif de Greenpeace International, analyse l&#039;\u00e9lan irr\u00e9versible de la transition \u00e9nerg\u00e9tique.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lesrencontreseconomiques.fr\/en\/debats-idees\/power-after-oil\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mads Christensen, directeur ex\u00e9cutif de Greenpeace International, analyse l&#039;\u00e9lan irr\u00e9versible de la transition \u00e9nerg\u00e9tique.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lesrencontreseconomiques.fr\/en\/debats-idees\/power-after-oil\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Les Rencontres \u00c9conomiques\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Le.Cercle.des.Economistes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-05T09:46:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Cercle_eco\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lesrencontreseconomiques.fr\\\/en\\\/debats-idees\\\/power-after-oil\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lesrencontreseconomiques.fr\\\/en\\\/debats-idees\\\/power-after-oil\\\/\",\"name\":\"Power After Oil - 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