Tim Gould, chief energy economist at the International Energy Agency, has said greater geopolitical uncertainty will be an “important driver” of change in the clean energy transition.
Speaking at the Net Zero Delivery Summit in London this morning, Gould said an uptick in clean energy spending had happened “in particular since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022” and also “with intensifying conflict in the Middle East”.
It has been “an important driver for the deployment of clean technologies”, he said, adding:
“That may sound a little bit counterintuitive because you sometimes hear the view that if you are interested in energy security you invest in fossil fuels, if you are interested in emissions reductions you invest in renewables. But the reality is significantly more complicated.”
While there are a range of motivators behind the decision to transition to clean energy, he said, “energy security” is an important reason to bring new technology into the system.
“That was a big theme that we picked up during a recent summit held jointly with the UK government on the future of energy security.
“Since 2022 we have seen a very rapid pick up in the pace of spending on energy transition and in today’s insecure, low trust world I think that preference for homegrown energy, particularly in fuel importing countries and regions, will continue to be an important driver of change.”
A report by the IEA earlier this month found that global energy investment is set to increase in 2025 to a record $3.3trn, with clean energy technologies attracting twice as much capital as fossil fuels.
Investment in clean technologies such as renewables, nuclear, grids, storage, low-emissions fuels, efficiency and electrification, is on course to hit a record $2.2trn this year, the IEA found. Investment in oil, natural gas and coal is on track to hit $1.1trn.
