Our Approach
to Fossil Fuels

At RMI, our mission is to transform the global energy system to secure a clean, prosperous, zero-carbon future for all. To avert the worst consequences of the climate crisis, we must cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

To achieve these outcomes, our relationship as a society with fossil fuels must change. We are facing a planetary emergency, and business as usual cannot continue. We need to reduce fossil fuel emissions through the efficient use of energy and to replace fossil fuels with clean energy where we can. We also need to end the release of greenhouse gas pollution into the atmosphere and to develop ways to capture historic emissions. And we need to innovate and grow clean energy alternatives that meet performance requirements for reliability, affordability, resilience, security, and the environment, delivering equal or better outcomes than the current emissions-intensive system. Above all, we must do this very quickly. 

A global energy transition of this scale is complex, which is why RMI is working to immediately reduce greenhouse gas pollution across the entire life cycle of fossil fuels, even as we simultaneously scale the global market for emissions-free energy solutions. We’re ambitious about rising to the challenge, and pragmatic about the need to meet it together.

RMI works openly with entities central to the challenge of accelerating the transition to a zero-carbon future, including governments around the world, policymakers of any party, nonprofit and community-based organizations, and corporations, among them fossil fuel companies that are committed to accelerating the transition to clean energy.

RMI uses fact-based economic research and analysis to champion climate-aligned solutions today as we develop and scale emerging solutions. We have tackled issues ranging from methane leaks in oil and gas production to the pollution emitted in households from fossil fuel appliances, and we have shown that alternatives such as carbon-free power generation, energy efficiency, green shipping and steel, hydrogen, and building electrification have real benefits for our health, our wallets, and the planet. For companies focused primarily on fossil fuels, carbon-free and carbon-capture solutions offer new strategic growth opportunities.

In emerging economies such as Africa and Asia where energy is in short supply, we work with a wide range of energy stakeholders to identify practical solutions. We respect the fundamental right of communities and countries to develop their own natural resources to contribute to their economic prosperity, human development, and security.

Ensuring that clean energy benefits developing and emerging economies is critical to meeting climate goals. And in most cases, non-fossil options are cheaper, more inclusive, and more resilient in spurring local economic growth and improving human development outcomes.

Related: Explore how RMI works across the fossil fuels value chain to rapidly reduce emissions.