Petrochemicals are sewn into nearly everything around us — from the production of fertilizers, to our textiles, to our everyday packaging. Yet what if this “fabric” is not clothing us, but suffocating us? What if the glue that holds much of our modern world together is poisoning us and unraveling at its seams?
The global effort to phase out fossil fuels has, until now, primarily focused on the decarbonization of electricity generation and transport. Understanding this “non-fuel” sector is essential to challenge the industry’s primary area of expansion and dismantle the narratives sustaining continued extraction. Left unchecked, petrochemicals present a growing obstacle to a swift and just phaseout of fossil fuels.
The paper, Curb Petrochemicals to Unlock a Full Fossil Fuel Phaseout, demonstrates why petrochemicals must be part of a true fossil-free future and offers five strategic angles to limit the expansion of the petrochemicals industry — the largest source of future oil demand growth in the coming decades — in order to slow a key lifeline for an oil industry facing the aftermath of its peak.