How Capitalism Accidentally Solved Climate Change Faster Than the UN

Sculpture by Isaac Cordal titled
"Politicians talking about climate change"

Forget the Suits in Belém: Capitalism Is Fixing Climate Change Faster Than Any Treaty Ever Could

Right now, as COP30 stumbles through its second week in Belém, delegates are arguing over commas in texts that nobody will enforce, oil states are watering down every meaningful sentence, and private jets are lined up like Uber Black at the airport. After thirty of these circus acts, emissions are still higher than when the whole charade began. Paris Agreement? Lovely intentions, pathetic execution. Yet the joke is on the doomers: the energy transition is roaring ahead at full speed, and the fuel is pure, unadulterated greed.

The same profit motive that kept us hooked on oil for 150 years is now busy burying it. Turns out, when something is dramatically cheaper, faster to build, and makes investors richer, people don’t need a UN resolution to adopt it. They just do it.

If you're holding your breath waiting for politicians to fix things for you, you might be feeling a little blue. State and local actions can have results, but these UN activities are just words on the wind.  

The Numbers Don’t Lie 

Solar is no longer “promising.” It is the cheapest form of new electricity generation in most of the world, full stop. Even in the conservative Lazard’s 2025 report, unsubsidized US numbers for utility-scale solar comes in at $38 - 78/MWh and onshore wind at $37 - 86/MWh, while new gas plants cost $48 - 109/MWh, new coal $71 - 173/MWh, and new nuclear $141 - 220/MWh. Yes, you read that right: building a brand-new coal plant now costs up to twice as much as solar, per unit of electricity.

Here, look at this table and try not to laugh (or cry, depending on your portfolio):

(Source: Lazard Levelized Cost of Energy+ 2025)

Technology	Unsubsidized LCOE 2025 (USD/MWh)	Beats new coal by how much?
Utility-scale solar	38-78	Up to 56% cheaper
Onshore wind	37-86	Up to 48% cheaper
Gas combined cycle	48–109	Sometimes cheaper, mostly overlapping
Coal	71-173	LOL
Nuclear	141-220	Cash incinerator

Globally, the picture is even more lopsided. IRENA’s 2024 data (published 2025) shows weighted-average onshore wind at $34/MWh and solar PV at $43/MWh. That is stupidly cheap. In sunny places, we are now routinely seeing power purchase agreements under $20/MWh. Twenty dollars. You can’t even build the coal plant’s parking lot for that.

The Growth Is Actually Insane

In the first half of 2025, wind + solar generated more electricity globally than coal for the first time ever. Renewables as a whole overtook coal entirely. Solar generation rose 31% in the first nine months of 2025. Low-carbon power hit 40.9% of global electricity in 2024, and it's still climbing. Ember forecasts 793 GW of new renewable capacity in 2025, an 11% jump from 2024’s already incredible 717 GW. China is installing solar at a rate that would make previous decades look like a grade school science project.

None of this happened because someone in Belém gave a stirring speech. It happened because manufacturers in China, developers in Texas, utilities in India, and datacenter owners in Virginia all looked at the spreadsheets and said, “Wait, this solar stuff is basically free money.” Battery prices are plunging too, so the “but the sun doesn’t shine at night” crowd is running out of excuses faster than a coal executive at a renewable-energy conference.

The Delicious Irony

The fossil-fuel era was built on subsidy, monopoly, and geopolitical muscle. The renewable era is being built on something far more powerful: raw economic dominance. No advertising campaign required. No public shaming needed. Just lower bills, higher returns, with energy security and clean air thrown in as a bonus.

So while COP30 will end with the usual triumphant press releases about “historic progress” and “ambitious new goals” that everyone knows will be locked in policy debates, the rest of the world will keep quietly installing solar panels, turbines, and batteries at a breakneck pace. The delegates can keep their watered-down text. We’ll take the lower electricity bills, cleaner air, and the sweet satisfaction of watching capitalism do what international diplomacy never could.

Greed got us into this mess. Turns out greed is also getting us out, and it’s doing it faster, cheaper, and with zero need for another 30 COPs. Cheers to that.