Event Summary
MSC hosts Digital ONS Summit on the Geopolitics of the Energy Transition
Together with the Offshore Northern Seas Foundation, the Munich Security Conference brought together senior decision-makers and experts from across the globe to discuss the prospects of the European energy transition and, building on that, the geopolitical implications of the energy transition for Europe and beyond.
On August 31, 2020, the Munich Security Conference (MSC), in cooperation with the Offshore Northern Seas Foundation (ONS), hosted a high-level digital event titled “A Game Changer – How Will the Energy Transition Transform the Geopolitics of Energy Security?”. Organizing its third discussion on energy security this year, the MSC thereby continued its Economic & Resource Security Series. Set up as a confidential format, a distinguished and diverse group of representatives from governments, international and nongovernmental organizations, academia, and industry discussed the European energy transition and potential geopolitical shifts accompanying the changing global energy mix.
Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Francesco La Camera, Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency, Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, Meghan O’Sullivan, Director of the Geopolitics of Energy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Christian Rynning-Tønnesen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Statkraft AS, gave introductory statements. The event was moderated by Boris Ruge, Vice-Chairman of the Munich Security Conference, and Amos Hochstein, Executive Vice President of Tellurian Inc.
While participants acknowledged the substantial steps Europe is taking towards a green energy system, they differed in their assessment concerning the prospects for a global energy transition. Some highlighted the differences in political priorities as well as in financial and technological capabilities of countries in different regions of the world. There were also diverging views on whether policy-makers and markets are moving fast enough towards green energy systems. There was agreement that, regardless of the great value of being a forerunner on the path towards decarbonized energy systems, Europe alone will only have a limited impact on mitigating climate change, unless other countries and industries change the course as well.
Concerning geopolitics, two aspects were discussed: the potential implications of the shift towards green energy resources and the impact of geopolitics on the pace and path of a global energy transition. On the first dimension, some experts argued that new geopolitical tensions would arise as the producers’ shares in the global oil markets change substantially. However, participants agreed that conflicts around new technologies in the energy sector would become more relevant. On the second dimension, participants pointed to the implications of the further weakening of multilateralism and rising protectionism in the wake of COVID-19 that could also affect climate change approaches.
About the Economic & Resource Security Series
In the light of the increasing global scarcity of resources and new geopolitical and economic challenges, the Munich Security Conference regularly organizes events on related topics. In various formats, decision-makers discuss new perspectives on economic and resource security. Learn more about the Economic & Resource Security Series.
