More than two centuries of dependence on fossil fuels to drive the global economy has left humanity facing an existential challenge: transition to a clean economy underpinned by a radical change of mindset – or push the planet beyond the point of recovery. The speed at which we pull back from the brink will have a profound effect on our ability to adapt to an already warming climate.
Júlia Seixas, Pro-Rector for Sustainability at Nova University Lisbon, says that current plans envisage a rise in global temperatures of 2.7C in the coming decades – enough to leave as much as 30 per cent of the population living outside the human climate niche, or the climatic zones where humans flourish. “Even if I had a magic wand to stop greenhouse-gas emissions tomorrow, we would still have to live with the impact of global warming,” she told participants of We Choose Earth, an event organised by global energy company EDP in Madrid recently.
We should be more ambitious: we need to take carbon out of the atmosphere
Cecilia MoSze Tham, Co-founder and CEO of Futurity Systems, which conceptualises, tests and builds solutions designed for tomorrow’s world, says that an important part of that ambition should revolve around circular and regenerative economic and business models. One example is the oil and gas industry, which Tham argues should adapt tools and know-how to tap into geothermal resources. “Sustaining is not enough,” she said. “We need to think holistically and longer term.”
The event gathered remarkable thinkers, doers and artists including Amal Clooney, Adam Grant, Céline Cousteau and Peter Frankopan, and brought together a broad range of views and ideas about going further and faster in the energy transition.
Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade, EDP’s CEO, believes that accelerating the energy transition requires a fundamental shift in human mindset. “It is a bumpy ride but it is imperative,” he said.“If we all embrace and incorporate that belief into our day-to-day lives, and if we are action-oriented towards that goal, then we will increase the odds of ensuring a better future for all.”
Amal Clooney, Barrister and Co-founder of the Clooney Foundation for Justice, stressed the need for a just energy transition to minimise the impact of global warming – particularly on the most vulnerable. Global warming has already forced millions to leave their homes, producing a new generation of climate refugees. In response, governments, companies and people must promote transparency and accountability in the transition, ensuring respect for human rights. “We have to know what the problems are and then have consequences attached to bad behaviour,” she said.
It’s not enough to have a clean balance sheet. You also need a clean human rights record
One emerging theme was that reaching ambitious goals would require a shake-up of today’s business models. “We’ve been living in a false paradigm of mathematics that doesn’t make sense any more,” said Lubomila Jordanova, CEO & Founder of Plan A, which uses data and science to help accelerate corporate transformation and ESG reporting. “We have adjusted the definition of success to GDP and GDP growth, but we need to look at the totality of the existence of the business, including the waste that is created in their offices, the residue of the materials… The status quo is no longer relevant.”
Kristian Ruby, Secretary-General of Eurelectric, the sector’s representative body in Europe, argued that it was also essential to give investors sufficient clarity and assurance to continue funding the innovation needed to achieve sustainability. “People are waiting to see where this regulatory equation will land,” he told participants. “What we are trying to tell politicians is, ‘Please do not destroy the market, do not destroy the rules that people know so that we can get going, inject the capital into the market and get projects started.’”
Electricity from renewable sources will doubtless form the cornerstone of the energy transition, and electric technology has already proved more efficient than traditional combustion engines. But does nuclear energy have a role to play in the transition?
According to Enrique Dans, Professor of Innovation at IE Business School in Madrid, that question stems from the myth that there is a shortage of materials required for solar panels and other hardware essential to the renewables space. “Lithium used to be scarce, but we were not able to find it because we were not looking hard enough. Now that we are looking, we find it everywhere,” said Dans.
Rare earth materials are not that rare. We could go to 100 per cent renewables, and we could do it much faster than we are doing now
So why isn’t progress greater than it is? Dans and other participants said that one of the missing elements is greater drive by individuals in society. “Most of this transition is being led by politicians, and politicians are moving slowly because we, as a society, are not asking them to move more quickly,” he said. “We need to start thinking of ourselves more as actors of change.”
