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Our reliance on fossil fuels and rising CO2 emissions poses serious environmental challenges globally. Despite efforts to promote renewable energy, fossil fuel use remains pervasive, hindering its adoption. Good governance mechanisms are regarded to be essential for maintaining renewable energy security. This study examines the impact of governance on non-renewable and renewable energy consumption in G20 countries from 2012 to 2021, categorizing them into high-income economies (HIE), middle-income economies (MIE), and non-fossil fuel-reliant economies (NFR). One crucial finding reveals that most governance indicators have a more significant impact on fossil fuel consumption compared to renewables across the various country types examined. Political Stability emerges as the indicator with the most significant impact in this study across all energy types and country categories. It decreases the consumption of both fossil fuels and renewables for HIE but increases all energy types for MIE and NFR. Conversely, the Rule of Law (RoL) increases the consumption of all fossil fuel types in all countries, except for gas in MIE and NFR. RoL also acts as a double-edged sword in MIE and NFR, impacting to grow the consumption of both fossil fuels and renewables. The study results contribute to pinpoint which governance indicators to enhance to achieve more sustainable energy consumption, depending on the country’s economic phase. Despite these findings, non-renewable energy consumption continues to rise, even in major developed economies, which highlights the urgent need for stakeholders to shift their mindset to favor climate mitigation governance practices.

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