'Ambitious thinking is needed' for future energy investment

Climate concerns demand trillions of dollars of new sustainable energy infrastructure, said the World Energy Council (WEC), adding that it will not happen without a clear climate framework and a global emissions target.

WEC presented its World Energy Trilemma Report for 2015 to the sixth Clean Energy Minsterial meeting in Merida, Mexico, on 27 May.

The report "draws on the insights of more than 2500 industry leaders and policymakers across the globe," said WEC. Executive chair of WEC's Trilemma group, Joan MacNaughton, concluded that, "The energy industry believes the time is ripe for stronger action on climate change." She said, "The focus now needs to move from negotiation to action. Unless this happens, it will become increasingly difficult to deliver across the three trilemma goals of energy security, energy equity and environmental sustainability."

Five actions were recommended by the report: First is to remove barriers to trade and enable technology transfer to facilitate the sharing and development of environmental goods and services. A level playing field should be created by setting a carbon price at a level that directs investment to low-carbon solutions. The report said policy makers should provide the right signals to scale up investment and attract private capital. Demand management, including energy efficiency, needs greater emphasis across all sectors. And the report also said leaders should prioritise and build platforms for innovation, research, development and demonstration.

"Energy leaders have identified five priority action areas," said Christophe Frei, secretary general of WEC. "These actions must be accompanied by accelerated innovation in business models, processes and regulatory frameworks to accommodate new technologies, market design and a focus on resilience of energy infrastructure."

"It is increasingly clear that traditional mechanisms, known policy and rates of innovation will not deliver the change needed to balance energy security concerns within countries and meet global climate targets. New and ambitious thinking is needed," said Frei.

WEC is a network of 3000 energy organisations located in over 90 countries that says it is focused on facilitating energy policy dialogue and informing global, regional and natinoal strategies. It collaborated on the World Energy Trilemma report with management consulting firm Oliver Wyman and the Global Risk Center of the Marsh & McLennan Companies.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News