As the global economy recovers in fits and starts from the COVID-19 pandemic, new challenges are on the horizon. While there is growing commitment, in Canada and elsewhere, to mitigating climate change, the reality is that the world still runs on fossil fuels – as demonstrated by record natural gas and coal prices in Europe and Asia, alongside requests for OPEC to increase oil production. An energy transformation that does not compromise economies and livelihoods will need to better grapple with issues of supply and demand.
In the wake of COP26, this MLI event looked at the nuances of both Canadian and global energy production and demand, what an energy transformation will look like in practice, and what the consequences are for getting it wrong.