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The Conversation
The Conversation
Kate Hua-Ke Chi, Doctoral Fellow, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Why countries struggle to quit fossil fuels, despite higher costs and 30 years of climate talks and treaties

Renewable energy is expanding, but a fossil fuel phaseout appears to still be far in the future. Hendrik Schmidt/picture alliance via Getty Images

Fossil fuels still power much of the world, even though renewable energy has become cheaper in most places and avoids both pollution and the climate damage caused by burning coal, oil and natural gas.

To understand this paradox, it helps to look at how countries – particularly major greenhouse gas emitters, including the U.S., China and European nations – are balancing the pressures of rising electricity demand with the global need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet.

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