On Friday 26 April, in Paris, the International Energy Agency (IEA) organised the first-ever global summit on the people-centred clean energy transition, bringing together representatives from governments around the world, trade unions, civil society, youth and the energy industry.
“Clean energy transition is moving fast. Now, this is good news, (...) and there are costs of moving from the old one [energy system] to the new one, and we are afraid that the cost...of the change might disproportionately fall on the shoulders of the low and mid-income people”, said IEA Executive Director, Fatih Birol, in his keynote speech.
He emphasised the principle of “equity”, dear to the IEA, and reiterated that public support will be essential if the energy transition is to succeed, “because we want a clean energy future for the people, for everybody, not for the elites”, he stressed.
This summit was a first at international level and aimed to bring together a diverse range of stakeholders, including the employment sector and trade unions, representing a total of 200 million workers worldwide.
“Real democracies deliver for working people and that includes also delivering climate protection for workers”, emphasised Luc Triangle, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation.
“If we don’t include the social dimension in our clean energy transition, then more and more people will be left behind, and more and more people will find solutions in the populist or extremist talks that are sometimes dominating public debate when there are elections”, he continued.
On this subject, Fatih Birol indicated that an IEA report on the affordability of the energy transition would be published at the end of May, just before the various elections to be held around the world in 2024.
“In addition to energy policies, you may need some additional fiscal, economic, social policies to support the vulnerable parts of the community”, he stressed.
Finally, he announced that a global commission, chaired by the Brazilian Energy Minister, Alexandre Silveira, would soon be set up. The work of this commission, as well as the discussions at this Summit, will serve as input for the next G20 Summit in Brazil on 18 and 19 November 2024. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)