Oil is a finite resource and its production will inevitably decline. The markets are telling us that green energy owns the future and are sounding an early death knell for carbon fuels. Let me explain.

The last decade has seen an explosion in investment in renewables, from China to Europe and the Americas. President Xi Jinping recently announced China’s target to be carbon neutral by 2060. Whilst this may seem late and a little too slow, it is a clear indication of global trends towards clean, renewable electricity powering everything from industry, to our homes and cars.

Huge investments in renewable production of hydrogen as a transport fuel is likely to send a signal to heavy diesel and gas users that there is an alternative for large scale power intensive powertrains.

Last week, Standard and Poor’s global market intelligence plotted the strong rise in renewables business NextEra Energy’s market capitalisation which recently exceeded $140 billion dollars. The same graph showed that over the same ten year period, the market capitalisation of ExxonMobil has fallen from a peak of over $430 billion to below that of NextEra Energy.

The FT estimates $16 trillion in global spending over the next 10 years to decarbonise the energy industry – refocusing investment away from petroleum heavy infrastructure projects to new, cleaner energy systems.

As the world switches to sustainable investment measures and we see the proliferation of funds that invest exclusively in carbon neutral or negative technologies, it is quite clear that capital is chasing oil to its timely death and providing untold opportunities for investment in renewable energies.

Whilst the markets are never perfect, they are clearly signaling peak oil and that clean energy is the future.

As we begin to see the ever-clearer impact of climate change, the need to transition to renewables remains urgent and we can only hope and use our best efforts to accelerate these declared timelines and drive our world into a cleaner, sustainable and livable future.

Let’s get busy repairing the future.