The rise of renewables
Jeffrey Currie, head of commodities at the US banking behemoth, said in all likelihood, this disaster for fossil fuels would "permanently alter the energy industry and its geopolitics" and "shift the debate around climate change."
The solar power industry and other renewables have suffered during the COVID-19 outbreak from the lack of demand, but BNP Paribas's head of climate change investment research, Mark Lewis, said the cultural shift may benefit green sources in the long term.
"When the dust settles, the peak demand narrative will be there stronger than ever," he told The Guardian.
"This is particularly true if long-haul aviation fails to recover.
"This has been a very strong source of oil demand growth in recent years but the longer we are at home - remote working, using video conferencing - the more people will wonder: do we really need to get on a plane?"
A change in thinking could lead to a rise in renewable energies like solar power, which are now just as profitable investments, according to Wood Mackenzie's director Valentina Kretzschmar.
She told The Guardian that the rates of return for gas and oil projects have crashed from 20% to 6%, explaining: "They're very much in line now with what you can get from solar and wind projects."
