David Woollcombe and Richard Baker on the urgent need to move towards renewable energy
Simon Tisdall is right to call the Opec+ decision to lower production by 2m barrels a day “a stunning win for Putin” (Let Saudi Arabia’s friendship with Putin be a wake-up call for the west, 13 October). But anger, sanctions and stopping arms sales is an insufficient response. Rather, the west – and all UN member states – should use this moment to implement the recommendation by scientists to keep 60% to 80% of known oil reserves in the ground, thus incentivising the rapid transition from a fossil fuel economy to a green, renewable one.
The Opec+ move, and the fact that companies spend billions every year prospecting for even more fossil fuel and fracking opportunities, must inspire those meeting at Cop27 across the Red Sea from Saudi Arabia to create a coalition of the willing to prohibit the production, sale and use of fossil fuels by, say, 2030.