BOGA and the European Commission convene High Level Dialogue on responses to the fossil fuel crisis
Alongside the 11th IEA Global Conference on Energy Efficiency in Montréal last week, BOGA and the European Commission convened a High-Level Dialogue, hosted by BOGA co-chair the Government of Québec.
The cost of our energy and economic dependence on fossil fuels is increasingly clear, with unprecedented supply disruption and price volatility affecting economies around the world. How to navigate this crisis, without deepening the trap of fossil fuel dependency, is among the most urgent questions that governments face today.
With opening remarks from the European Commission, Ghana and Sierra Leone, and presentations from the IEA and BOGA, the discussion explored the range of responses to the current crisis, from demand-side measures to structural reforms. Participants discussed the need to scale up energy efficiency efforts, while advancing the transition away from fossil fuel dependency. Speakers included:
- Pascale Déry, Minister of Environment, Fight against Climate Change, Fauna and Parcs, Government of Québec, and BOGA Co-Chair
- Dan Jørgensen, Commissioner for Energy and Housing, European Commission
- Richard Gyan-Mensah, Deputy Minister of Energy and Green Transition, Ghana
- Edmond Nonie, Deputy Minister of Energy, Sierra Leone
- Brian Motherway, Head of Energy Efficiency and Inclusive Transitions, IEA
- Siân Bradley, Head of Secretariat, BOGA
Just as the oil crises of the 1970s drove huge improvements in energy efficiency, the current crisis has the potential to accelerate the transition. Successive crises have now demonstrated how vulnerable global energy markets are to oil and gas price spikes and supply disruption. Discussions explored how enhanced cooperation and producer-consumer coordination could build resilience.
The Dialogue followed an online meeting of BOGA’s Major Producers Dialogue, Major Producers earlier in the week, where new approaches to developing transition pathways and producer-consumer coordination are being developed, in collaboration with major producers and the European Commission.
Major producers are starting their transition planning – through the BOGA Fund alone, programmes are already supporting many of the largest oil and gas producers in the world, including Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, and Brazil, the largest oil producer in South America.
