VIENNA, Jul 7 (NNN-XINHUA) – Delegates attending an energy event hosted by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) here, have called for advancing energy transition in a just, sustainable and inclusive manner.
Energy transition is at the top of the agenda of the 8th OPEC International Seminar, themed “Towards a sustainable and inclusive energy transition.” The seminar is the organisation’s flagship energy event held in Vienna on Jul 5-6.
OPEC Secretary General, Haitham Al Ghais, recalled the importance of sustainability and inclusivity in energy transition, at the seminar’s opening ceremony on Wednesday, saying, sustainability “relates to how we fulfill the needs of current generations without compromising the needs of future generations, while ensuring a balance between … economic viability, environmental protection and social equity.”
Later on Wednesday, Al Ghais told Xinhua in an exclusive interview that, while OPEC member countries “embrace energy transition,” the transition should be “well-planned, inclusive, just and fair,” and countries should be allowed to choose their own paths to advance it.
Al Ghais’s view was echoed by many other seminar participants, who called for taking a more realistic and inclusive approach to energy transition while maintaining energy supply stability and addressing energy poverty in the underdeveloped parts of the world.
Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, Angola’s minister of mineral resources and petroleum, told a ministerial session of the seminar that energy transition is a difficult “paradigm shift,” which should be different for each country according to their development stage and specific conditions.
Noting that many people in Africa still suffer from energy poverty, he said, energy transition should not be advanced in a way that will make livelihoods worse for them.
Ana Palacio, Spain’s former foreign minister, also called for multiple, different pathways to a just energy transition.
“We should not impose energy transition,” she said, adding that, in underdeveloped parts of the world where lack of access to energy is a pressing issue, energy transition should be advanced in a different manner than in the more developed countries.
The two-day seminar brought together ministers from OPEC member countries and other oil-producing and consuming nations, as well as, representatives of international organisations, oil and energy companies, academics and other industry experts.
Participants discussed key issues and challenges facing the oil and energy industry, including energy transition, energy poverty alleviation, energy security, climate change policies, investment, technology and innovation.– NNN-XINHUA
