WEC Survey Underlines Need to Adapt
Energy leader’s that gathered for the summit organised by the World Energy Council (WEC) on 14 September, heard that the outlook for the sustainable supply and use of energy has become more uncertain in 2011. This comes in the context of the significant events and economic uncertainty that have affected the sector over the past 2 years. Key messages were drawn from the WEC’s ‘2011 Global Energy Issues Survey’ that was launched at WEC’s World Energy Leaders’ Summit.
Christoph Frei, secretary general of the World Energy Council said: “This survey highlights the issues that are keeping energy leaders awake at night. The uncertainty around a long term climate framework will simply lead to wrong investment decisions. The developments in the Middle East and North Africa region and the tragedy at Fukushima have further added to the pressure to adapt and represent a significant set-back in solving the global energy challenges.”
Building a Resilient System
Looking to the future Pierre Gadonneix, chairman of the World Energy Council said: “It is in the nature of the energy sector to be able to cope with new uncertainties each year. Therefore we must now make all our efforts to build a world energy system resilient to all changes and accidents. The only energy system that is capable of resilience is the one that allows economic development for all in a way that is environmentally and socially acceptable and sustainable. And we must come together now to achieve this goal. To create such a system we must give investors the long term signals to invest now in diversified forms of energy, in infrastructures, in energy efficiency and in R&D to prepare for the future.”