Watching oil prices over the last few months is a head-jerking activity — one minute up, the next down. What has been amazing is seeing that companies and nations that have moved to renewables avoid price shocks.   

The momentum behind renewable energy is now genuinely unstoppable. The question is whether we are brave enough to get out of its way, and honest enough to tear down the barriers we keep placing in front of ourselves.

The proof is everywhere. 

Uruguay, once blackout-prone and almost entirely oil-dependent, transformed its electricity system to nearly 98% renewable power in just five years, created 50,000 jobs, and now exports surplus energy to its neighbors. Spain generates 63% of its electricity from renewables and, unlike much of Europe, has seen relative price stability throughout the current crisis. In 2025, China's clean energy sectors contributed $2.1 trillion to its economy, roughly 11% of GDP. Without them, China would have missed its growth target entirely. Clean energy wasn't just supporting the Chinese economy. It was a significant engine of the economy. 

The Ingka Group revenue grew by 24% between 2016 and 2024 while cutting emissions by 30% and investing over €4.3 billion in renewables. What I love most about the IKEA example is that their retail stores are now powered by clean energy, and with the excess energy they are creating new revenue streams as a mid-size energy supplier. 

These are not outliers. They are blueprints. And yet we are creating headwinds to progress by pouring money into planetary harmful subsidies. It is absurd to be fighting against ourselves.

Governments currently spend at least $2.6 trillion every year on planetary-harmful subsidies, of which $1.05 trillion ($120 million every hour) goes directly to fossil fuels. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) puts the true figure at $7 trillion once you add in the costs of air pollution, climate damage, and public health. That is more than the world spends on education. We are, as our Renewable Freedom report puts it, using 2026 tax money to fund 1920s technology.

I was in Scotland in 2021 at a B Team gathering alongside The Elders and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) — where around 50 committed business leaders were brought together to confront fossil fuel subsidies. The room was oversubscribed. And what stunned me: almost none of those CEOs knew how fossil fuel subsidies were benefiting their own bottom lines. Not because they didn't care. Because there was no transparency. The moment they understood it, there was radical agreement that it was outrageous. Everyone realised that we are actually paying to destroy the future for generations to come.

Since then, things have gotten worse. Recent oil price shocks have driven subsidies even higher and added over $188 to the average American household's energy bill. Rather than breaking the dependency, too many governments are again reaching for the same broken lever. This has to stop.

There is a coalition of 17 countries — the Coalition on Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Incentives Including Subsidies (COFFIS) — already working to publish subsidy inventories and phase-out plans. But of the 17 members expected to publish or update in 2025, only seven did. The willingness is there. The accountability structures are not strong enough. Business leaders can help change this, and we should be pushing governments to lead the way.

We've spent 20 years helping to build collectives of leaders around the toughest problems of our time. What I keep learning is that when you bring together the right partnerships, a sense of urgency, and an intoxicating purpose, we become unstoppable. We can and must stop funding planetary harmful subsidies. This is something worth fighting for.

And we have a compass with the planetary boundaries, a risk and innovation framework. Every boundary we've crossed — and we've now breached seven of nine — tells us precisely where the greatest opportunities and risks lie. The companies that take a whole planet approach and help get us back to a safe operating space will define the next generation of business. Not because it's the right thing to do, though it is. Because it's where the future is.

So here is the opportunity. Think about your industry as a collective, not a competition. Where could you work together to use the planetary boundaries as your compass to understand the risks and to co-create solutions? Where are the opportunities to stop planetary harmful subsidies as a collective? How can you take advantage of renewable freedom? 

Thriving within planetary boundaries is not a distant ambition. It is already here for those with the courage and wisdom to choose it.

Jean Oelwang is Founding CEO and President of Virgin Unite, Founding CEO of the Planetary Guardians and a B Team Leader. Learn more about Jean.

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