Two great challenges

The world today faces two great challenges. The first is reducing poverty – spreading the benefits of a decent quality of life from the minority towards the majority of people in the world. But alleviating poverty will require a significant increase of energy to fuel the necessary productive activity, which raises the second challenge – addressing the increasing accumulation of greenhouse gases in the environment. This rise of greenhouse gases is putting pressure not only on the climate and the atmosphere, but also on the oceans, with ocean acidification and temperature changes, and on food production. In many ways, vulnerable people, including those in poverty, are likely to suffer the most.

Over 80 per cent of primary energy currently comes from fossil fuels, whose use produces emissions that affect the heat balance of our planet. If we are to avoid the worst effects of climate change while at the same time providing a better life for all, the global economy and its underlying energy system must go through a major transition – a very major one. Everything is up for grabs: how we use energy, how we produce energy, how we distribute it, and how we pay for it.

The size of the energy transition

The energy transition is already underway. This is an exciting opportunity for the world, with many ‘winners’ as the energy system transforms: new industries, new business models, fresh investment, and new jobs. And this transformation is within humanity's grasp. Making a transition to a lowcarbon energy future while meeting rising global demand is an achievable ambition for society. Even though it is a huge undertaking that will deeply challenge our socio-political capacity for cooperation, with the right policies, the right decisions, and enough willpower, it can succeed.