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Autumn/Winter 2022

There are many opportunities afforded by transitioning to a low-carbon economy, which will only diminish the longer they are left unexploited. The whole sector needs to be more ambitious in its targets, bolder in its risk-taking and more courageous in its actions

This is the 15th issue in our ‘Magazines’ series. You can find the 14th here – and if you haven’t started at all, the first issue is here.

The lesson we can take from this special print issue is the need for everyone in the sector—investors, regulators, lawmakers, and developers—to be braver

For all of the bluff and bluster that surrounded the COP26 climate negotiations in Glasgow in November 2021, very little was achieved in securing a pathway to limit global warming to below 1.5°C. In the intervening 12 months, the energy transition has taken a hit with the ripple effects from the war in Ukraine—and the pandemic—affecting supply chains, power prices, investor confidence and political bandwidth.

This has led to very few countries strengthening their climate commitments, despite promising to do so in Glasgow. Ahead of the COP27 talks in Sharm El-Sheikh in November 2022, the UN warned that the world is “still nowhere near the scale and pace of emission reductions required”.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) annual World Energy Outlook report predicts global carbon emissions from the energy sector will peak in 2025 due to the increases in government spending on clean fuels in response to the conflict in Ukraine.

The IEA’s conclusions indicate that the money for the energy transition is available, and it seems the willingness of lawmakers, businesses and citizens to adapt in order to make the transition a reality has increased with the plethora of crises blocking the path to a decarbonised economy.

For this issue of FORESIGHT Climate & Energy, our 15th special print issue, we start with the assumption that the funds for the energy transition are available. The money to shift to net zero is there. What is needed now is the removal of the barriers and adaptation to the challenges so that the funds can be unleashed to accelerate projects and initiatives required to cut emissions sufficiently by 2050.

In this issue, we examine how carbon pricing can be an effective tool in funding low-carbon endeavours but only in alliance with supportive policies and regulations. We look at whether the oil and gas majors—with the deep pockets and knowledge of the energy landscape—can do more to support the transition. We also examine what all this means for the geopolitical landscape of the world and how that will affect where the money goes.

– David Weston, Editor-in-Chief