Davos Forum participant agreed on energy transition
2023.01.23 02:59
Davos Forum participant agreed on energy transition
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – At the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting this year, a different kind of energy transition took place.
Fossil fuel and renewable energy leaders sat side by side in Davos, in contrast to Glasgow’s COP26 climate conference in 2021, where oil and gas executives were persona non grata.
Greta Thunberg and other activists don’t like it. However, some people in the hydro, solar, and wind industries are warming to the carbon crowd.
Bharat Light and Power CEO Tejpreet Chopra was surprised to be invited to a side event with more than 60 high-ranking oil and gas executives.
He stated to Reuters, “Until we all get to the finish line of where we all want to be, the course of this transition will have to take a more inclusive approach.”
This shift has been prominent in Davos, where United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres dedicated his speech to it. It was partly sparked by the energy shortage that resulted from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
European leaders reversed plans to reduce investments in new fossil fuels as rising prices caused inflation, forced industries to shut down production, and raised energy costs.
This week, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais warned that renewable energy sources alone will not be able to meet the sheer magnitude of economic growth.
This year’s WEF served as a bullhorn for that message, which was echoed by many in the industry, whether they were traditional producers of renewable energy or producers of fossil fuels.
According to Reuters, the International Energy Forum’s Secretary General Joseph McMonigle, “certainly the war (in Ukraine) added a premium, but the root cause is structural.”
He continued, “We’ve tried to limit supply, but demand is not decreasing.”
In its 2022 World Oil Outlook, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) estimated that in order to avoid energy crises, $12.1 trillion in investments would be required to meet oil demand through 2045.
At Davos, Thunberg’s strong opposition to the industry’s new mantra that the energy crisis justifies new oil investments was not the only voice.
During a meeting with Thunberg on the sidelines of the WEF, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, stated that it would take years for new investments in oil fields to become operational. They would not only contribute to the climate crisis but also be too late to alleviate the energy shortage.
Keir Starmer, the leader of the British opposition, stated, “The oil and gas sector has a role to play in the energy transition.”
Starmer stated, “But not new investment, not new fields up in the North Sea, because we need to go towards net zero, and we need to make sure that renewable energy is where we go next.”
Within the energy sector, there appears to be a growing consensus that calls to immediately stop investing in oil and gas and leave it in the ground are counterproductive.
McMonigle stated, “Energy companies have to be part of the solution here,” and added, There are a lot of engineers working for these large, integrated businesses, right?”
According to McMonigle, new technologies cannot scale up solutions without the weight of big oil.
After a year of record-high prices, oil companies not only have expertise, but they also have a lot of cash, which enables them to fund more projects involving hydrogen, solar power, and wind power.
However, this does not allay climate activists’ anxieties.
The United Arab Emirates appointed the head of its oil company ADNOC and its climate envoy as president of the COP28 summit that the Gulf OPEC producer is hosting this year, according to some protesters in Davos.
The position entails supervising negotiations among the nearly 200 nations that typically attend the annual talks. At COP28, the Global Stocktake will be held for the first time since the historic Paris Agreement of 2015.
“The climate crisis does threaten to destroy everything we know and care about, and the only solution state leaders are finding is giving more power to those who brought us this crisis from the beginning,” stated Nicola Siegrist, president of the Young Socialist Party in Switzerland. Siegrist organized a protest this week in Davos that attracted a few hundred people.
Jaber, who oversaw the UAE’s mandate to adopt renewables and is the founding CEO of Masdar, an Abu Dhabi renewable energy company, has green credentials.
His supporters say that his appointment is a good change and that a more inclusive approach can help the world reach climate goals that it is getting harder and harder to reach.
“COP28 ought to focus on what is new this time. Aside from that, “it’s just a waste of money in a beautiful place,” asserted Siemens Energy Chairman Joe Kaeser at the Reuters Global Markets Forum.
