Representatives from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Indonesia and Russia - three of the world's largest exporters of fossil fuels - discussed efforts to diversify their economies and shift towards green energies at the 2020 Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS).
Photo by: Tom Swinnen/Pexels
The sharp drop in oil prices during the pandemic - dropping to zero in some countries for the first time in history - highlighted the unsustainability of fossil fuel consumption in crises and in a world that is shifting towards more renewable sources of energy.
This has caused many of the oil-rich countries of the world to switch to greener energy as many of them admit that climate change presents a tangible and imminent threat to society that governments need to cooperate to contain.
Speaking at the summit, Suhail Mohammed Faraj Al-Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said the Arab nation took a long-term approach to energy planning and tackling climate change, with green energy expected to provide half the country’s energy by 2050.
He added: “In 2017 we looked at our options from energy sources and we looked at the targets and how we can make our cities among the world’s most liveable in the future. By 2050, we plan to shift from 100% reliance on natural gas in 2017 to produce 50% from green forms of energy.”
The minister noted that solar energy could become the predominant contributor in the UAE's new energy with a 44% share which they claim will cut CO2 emissions by 70% and product savings of $190 billion (€162.2 billion) in savings over natural gases.
The UAE is also the first country in the middle east to develop nuclear power, with its first of four reactors at the Barakah nuclear plant now online. Once they are up and running, nuclear power is expected to generate 24% of the country's power.
Al-Mazrouei added that tackling climate change has become even more important in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic because environmental factors are a contributor to better health and the UAE is targetting cleaner cities in terms of raw CO2 emissions.
Similarly, Alexander Valentinovich Novak, Minister of Energy for Russia, spoke of the need to reduce dependency on carbon-based energies.
He said: “The time is now. The structure of our energy balance is changing. The pandemic has influenced consumer behaviour but it was already changing. Demand for oil is falling at the moment and there is a larger portion of non-carbon sources in the energy mix. Now hydrocarbons account for 85% of that mix, but it needs to reduce to 74% by 2040 and we’re seeing an investment increase of 5% in green and renewable energy sources compared to last year."
Novak said that Russia was steadily moving towards renewable energy targets. In 2014, they launched a program with the target of generating 6000MW over a ten-year period to 2024 supported by government subsidies.
He added that natural gases account for a little under half of Russia's energy production, with both hydroelectric and nuclear power constituting roughly 20% each.
He said: “In 2014 we had less than 1% of our energy mix was from renewables. Right now it’s around 2% but should come up to 4 or 5%. We have committed to continue that programme for another 10 years until 2034 to add another 10,000MW when the cost should have come down sufficiently so that it will be competitive and no longer need to be subsidised."
Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment of Indonesia said the drop in natural resource prices during the pandemic had highlighted that the country’s reliance on hydrocarbon exports is not sustainable and that Indonesia is committed to diversifying its economy.
He said: “We strive to improve our human capital, inviting investors to cooperate with our ministry of industry to make vocational technology schools and use a more competitive local labour force. I invite partners and invest in Indonesia to develop our downstream metal and renewable energy industries, which have nascent potential.”
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