Real Cost of the Energy Transition

The Rui Cunha Foundation presents today, Monday, April 8th at 6:30pm, a conference on the “Real Cost of the Energy Transition”, co-organized by the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Hong Kong and the European Chamber of Commerce in Macau, on occasion of the presence of Ambassador-at-Large for Energy Security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Czechia, Václav Bartuška, the special guest speaker at this session.

«The global transition to clean energy has a cost». In the effort towards net-zero transition, «a report published by the management consultancy McKinsey in 2022 estimates that spending on energy and land-use systems in the net-zero transition would cost an average of $9.2 trillion per year between 2021 and 2050, which is an annual increase of about $3.5 trillion from what was then the current spending level».

«On the other hand, a new analysis from RMI – Rocky Mountain Institute, ‘The Great Reallocation’, argues that achieving net zero is a story of capital reallocation», because contrary to popular belief, «the buildout of renewable energy supply does not require a surge in capital expenditure (capex). As fossil fuel capex falls, the net growth in capex is only 2% a year, in line with the past seven years, and much lower than in the decade after 2000», on account of the same report.

Meanwhile, after a decade of progress, the global energy transition has plateauedamid the global energy crisis and geopolitical volatilities, according to the World Economic Forum‘s Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2023 report. The Energy Transition Index, which benchmarks 120 countries on their current energy system performance and on the readiness of their enabling environment, finds that while there has been broad progress on clean sustainable energy, there are emerging challenges to the equity of the transition – just, affordable access to energy and sustained economic development – due to countries shifting their focus to energy security.

Ambassador Václav Bartuška was involved in the Policies to enhance energy security, as it was a major component of the Czech Presidency of the European Union which concluded at the end of 2022, having also served as a plenipotentiary of the Czech Government for the expansion of Temelin Nuclear Power Plant. He teaches security studies and modern history at New York University as well as a course on energy diplomacy at the College of Europe.

The session will be held in English and will be moderated by Paulo Rego, Director General of Plataforma Weekly Newspaper.

Admission is free.
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