We are celebrating Earth Day because of the importance of carefully stewarding our global resources, though this is lost on some in the recent political stage in the US. Our clients have definitely entered a phase of green hushing, as they for the most part continue to pursue a wide range of investment product and corporate goals supporting sustainability but simply talk about it less on public stages. For the most part, reason prevails in support of broadly accepted scientific principles on human health and the environment, if for no other reason than because it is important to employee morale and reduces turnover.
The movement towards decentralized solar and wind power supported by battery technology is the fastest way for most of the developing world to support economic development, particularly when fossil fuel prices rise above $60/barrel or the equivalent in other extractive energy sources. David Gelles and The New York Times recently summed it up well:
“While the growth of clean power has slowed in the United States as a result of the Trump administration’s policies, the adoption of renewable and low-carbon energy sources is booming around the world.
Today, clean energy is the cheapest and quickest way to meet our growing energy demand. As a result, we’re seeing bright spots of hope all over the world.
For the first time, a renewable source — solar — was the biggest single contributor to new energy supply worldwide, accounting for more than 25 percent of energy growth last year, according to data released this week by the International Energy Agency.
Globally, electric car sales jumped 20 percent last year, to more than 20 million vehicles. And installations of new wind energy jumped 40 percent over last year with more than 160 gigawatts installed in 2025.
‘The economics of clean energy are now on our side,”\’ said Manish Bapna, chief executive of the Natural Resources Defense Council. ‘Today, clean energy is the cheapest and quickest way to meet our growing energy demand. As a result, we’re seeing bright spots of hope all over the world.’
With rollout of renewables on the rise, emissions have started to fall in some key markets.
In the European Union, greenhouse gas emissions fell 3 percent between 2023 and 2024. With that drop, the E.U.’s total emissions are 40 percent lower than 1990 levels, even as the population and economy have grown substantially.
In China, carbon dioxide emissions fell by 1 percent in the final quarter of 2025, according to an analysis by Carbon Brief. That likely will result in a slight overall decline in annual emissions, meaning that the world’s biggest polluter has managed to keep its CO2 emissions either ‘flat or falling’ for nearly two years now.
And in India, emissions were flat for the first time since the 1970s, excluding the pandemic years. Wind and solar installations in India jumped nearly 60 percent last year, the largest increase among major nations.
‘It’s not a matter of “if” but “when” the world transitions to clean energy,’ Bapna said, ‘and what countries will lead the way and reap the economic reward.'”
HAPPY EARTH DAY!