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Key message from G7 meeting: fossil fuel based energy is the past

Key message from G7 meeting: fossil fuel based energy is the past Demonstrants at 2015 G7 meeting in Germany (source: blu-news.org)
Francisco Rojas 11 Jun 2015

The recent G7 meeting essentially puts the end to the fossil fuel era on the agenda and will significantly change the way we look at the energy industry.

Following last week’s G7 meeting in Germany, there is likely one point sticking out. The group of the state leaders of the seven major advanced economies as defined by the IMF, includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the U.S.

Germanwatch essentially states that the meeting put “the end of the fossil fuel era” on the global agenda. Only by moving away from fossil fuel, climate change can be addressed and energy demand be fuelled.

Ed Whittingham, Executive Director of Canadian Pembina Institute even things that this change means that energy companies might have to reinvent themselves.  “Many have rebranded themselves from Oil Inc. or Gas Inc. to Energy Inc., recognising that they just want to provide the energy services and they’re not as partial as to what source it’s coming from,” he said. “For the companies that take a very long-term orientation, I don’t think it is business as usual. I think this is another sign that the world economy is going in a low-carbon, clean-energy direction.”

So there is a fundamental change happening. One can see this already with a pressure on different investment funds not to invest in coal-based businesses.

Overall one can say that this is a step into the right direction and a bold agenda. How this will translate into the real life of energy companies, we will have to see. But it is a great first step and puts pressure on the oil and energy sector to act.

Source: Brandon Sun