Energy company leaders’ optimism about the pace of energy transition has decreased rapidly, according to the latest global survey by the World Energy Council (WEC).
In its August World Energy Pulse survey WEC found that 27% more leaders, of the 600 surveyed, indicated that they believe the process will slow compared to April when the first “Pulse” was conducted (44% vs 35%).
The shift comes as energy security increasingly reframes affordable climate security actions, WEC said.
At the same time, 18% more respondents said they are seeing greater fragmentation in global energy policy approaches (43% compared to 36%), as “new and cascading crises” affect energy systems and consumers worldwide.
The August World Energy Pulse also exposes the challenges of balancing competing priorities in energy policymaking.
All three World Energy Trilemma pillars, which comprise energy security, energy affordability and environmental sustainability, are receiving leadership attention, although the importance of each pillar differs significantly by region.
Throughout Europe there has been a dramatic shift in policy focus resulting in a reprioritisation of energy security (42%) over affordability (22%) and environmental sustainability (36%), WEC highlighted.
Responses indicate a global absence of bottom-up or customer-led leadership models where energy policy and innovation are informed by the people impacted by them.
Some 57% of leaders indicated no or very little evidence of these models emerging in their country.
Angela Wilkinson, Secretary General and CEO at the World Energy Council, said: “This World Energy Pulse reinforces the importance of placing people and communities at the heart of energy transitions.
“The urgent need to decarbonise economies without destabilising societies has become crystal clear in the context of new cost-of-living crises and global supply chain risks.
“Successfully managing energy transitions is best achieved through a combination of energy trilemma solutions at all levels of societies, by redesigning markets and ESG investment frameworks to include energy and environmental justice considerations alongside energy- and climate-security.
“The World Energy Pulse also reinforces the importance of ‘clean and just’ energy transition literacy. It’s vital that decision makers avoid triggering social resistance to energy transition and engage in more open and honest conversations about links between price, system costs, affordability and value-in-use.”