As world attention focuses on Glasgow for the United Nations COP26 Conference this month , the energy industry must seize opportunity amid the scrutiny

WRITTEN BY : DOMINIC ELLIS

Writing that sentence might have sounded alarmist a few years ago , but now , at a time of regular wildfires , increasing floods and unpredictable weather patterns , most accept climate change is a tangible reality – and the window for tackling it is rapidly closing . The IPCC ’ s recent Sixth Assessment Report served as a COP ‘ curtain raiser ’ by stating the pressing nature of the climate

DAMILOLA OGUNBIYI crisis and the need to intensify efforts , echoing the IEA , which says pledges by governments to date – even if fully achieved – fall well short of what is required to bring global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050 .

Time and again , the resounding message is we need to work faster .

Clearly much rides on the high-profile Glasgow global get-together between October 31-November 12 and the actions and resolutions which are taken – or otherwise – will impact the collective success of reducing carbon emissions and reaching net zero targets .

The complexity of the challenge is untangling the web of climate issues , demographics and economics in an uneven world .

It ’ s hard to believe , in the 21st century , that 700 million people still lack access to modern energy sources . Getting them onto the grid should be a moral and commercial imperative but underlines the challenges , in an anti-carbon era , of scaling renewables – much of which are either in their infancy or yet to be fully commissioned .

Consider also that in the last 20 years , the world population has increased by 1.6 billion people , and it is projected to rise by 1.4 billion over the next 20 . We ’ re going to need an awful lot of solar and wind to sustain the world ’ s renewable energy needs .

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