European business leaders agree that COP28 results will accelerate the renewable transition, according to a survey by a renewable energy developer.
BayWa r.e.’s survey found 67% of European business leaders agree that COP28 results will accelerate the renewable transition, while 13% think it will slow it down.
Business leaders agree that phasing out of fossil fuels must be tackled first in 2024, with regional differences showing the breadth of challenges for speeding up the renewable transition.
The Censuswide survey commissioned by BayWa r.e., questioned over 2500 business decision makers across Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain and France.
The survey also found that sentiment around COP28 varied across Europe.
In Germany 22% believe the conference will not have any significant influence on the green transition, while 17% of French business leaders believe it will slow the transition down in their country.
According to the research, national governments (21%) hold the most responsibility for the green transition, while additional accountability on a European-wide level is largely shared by regional organisations (like EU) (17%), as well as businesses and citizens (16% respectively).
However, in Spain, business leaders call out themselves as being most responsible for the green transition (21%), while UK business leaders point towards regional organisations as being most accountable (20%) – despite no longer being part of the EU.
“We are already more than a third of the way through the decade that matters.
“Our research shows us the breadth of the challenge that still lies ahead for speeding up the renewable transition in time,” said Matthias Taft, CEO at BayWa r.e.
European businesses are ready to contribute to the renewable transition with 80% already having a green energy strategy in place, but almost half (48%) of businesses are only just getting started.
Despite this progress, there is still a range of barriers for businesses achieving their green energy objectives.
A quarter (26%) of European business leaders state that the availability of green energy supply and infrastructure is the top barrier and cite bureaucratic hurdles and cost factors as the second and third biggest challenges.
In France the skills shortage is a top barrier (27%), in Spain it is the lack of management/staff commitment (27%), while a lack of consumer commitment is the biggest challenge in Germany (28%).