Global investment in oil and gas will remain necessary for the time being, says the deputy executive director of the International Energy Agency, but the rapid shift toward a cleaner energy system can be achieved with careful planning..
Interim targets for 2030 and 2040 that identify how to bring greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050 can also help drive much-needed investments, she said. Last year at the World Petroleum Congress in Calgary, for example, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman,for practicing “political advocacy.” The state-owned oil companies of Kuwait, Brazil and Angola also took issue with various IEA forecasts and road maps to net-zero, and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said the agency isn’t credible.
“But we think that, ultimately, accelerating to the greatest extent possible investments in renewables and clean energy technologies is what’s going to be needed if we want to achieve net zero by 2050 and have any chance of meeting the Paris climate goal of 1.5 degrees.” Canada itself is mostly on-track to meeting its ambitious energy transition targets, Ms. Warlick said, and will next year get the opportunity to step-up its global leadership when it takes on presidency of the G7.