Sustainability is on the cusp of an evolutionary leap. Companies all over the world are beginning to explore more sustainable ways of doing business, primarily due to the global climate emergency. They consider their long-term impact on the local environment, society, and the economy and ask whether their business makes a positive contribution. Becoming more sustainable may not be easy at first, but business sustainability is more an opportunity than a threat. The challenge is well worth the reward since there is no long-term trade-off between sustainability and financial value creation. Sustainable companies will be more resilient and create an enduring impact.

This article looks at the value of sustainability to business. First, it discusses the benefits as well as key strategies and challenges to increasing sustainability in business. Second, the link between energy efficiency and sustainability is examined. The business plan of the world's most sustainable energy companies is analysed, focusing on the lessons energy businesses can learn to become more sustainable.

Discoveries of natural gas have occurred in a number of sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, bringing enthusiasm and hopes for economic growth that addresses the energy deficit and limited access to electricity while lowering costs and carbon emissions. Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania are among those countries.

In the developed world, natural gas has proven to be a vital energy resource and increasingly gained traction as an energy transition fuel to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions and other gases that contribute to climate pollution.

An interview with ESCP Visiting Professor Samuele Furfari, a former long-time senior official at the Energy Directorate-General of the European Commission.

In 2000, the European Commission published a green paper titled «Towards a European strategy for the security of energy supply». Professor Samuele Furfari, who served for a long time at the European Commission’s energy department, was in charge of communicating the recommendations of this strategy. The aim of this was to make sure that the European Union, which is heavily dependent on imported energy, would nevertheless ensure its security of supply.

Not a day passes without claims being made by experts, analysts and organisations prominent among them the International Energy Agency (IEA) about climate change, global energy transition, net-zero emissions, peak oil demand and the end of oil.

However, the global economy can neither take such claims nor can it fulfil them. And contrary to these claims, oil will continue to drive the global economy throughout the 21^st century and probably far beyond underpinned by both rising world population and growing global economy.

On the 1^st of November 2021, the 26^th United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26 which stands for ‘Conference of the Parties’, is scheduled to be held in the City of Glasgow from 1-12 November under the presidency of the United Kingdom.

For nearly three decades the UN has been bringing together almost every country on earth for global climate summits. In that time climate change has gone from being a fringe issue to a global priority.

During COP21 which took place in Paris in 2015 the Paris Climate Change Agreement was born. For the first time ever, something momentous happened: every country agreed to work together to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees and aim for 1.5 degrees to adapt to the impacts of a changing climate and to make money available to deliver on these aims.

Part 3: Energy Security

Last month, I posted the second of a few articles that will consider the responsible integration of renewable and nuclear generation to foster economic, social, and environmental improvements for developing countries in the mid to long term. The first article focused on economic expansion and the second article discussed possible socio-economic impacts. In this third article, the discussion will shift towards energy security, which continues to have major global ramifications as it has for hundreds of years.

The concept of energy security has different meanings to different groups and people. Bearing that in mind, it can be challenging to make meaningful comparisons and conclusions when circumstances can vary so widely from place-to-place and region-to-region. By using data from the World Energy Council, the goal will be to consider energy security from three key perspectives that can likely impact decision-making at the national and regional level. 

The Suez Canal hit the news on Tuesday 23 March 2021 when a mammoth container ship, the 224,000-ton ‘Ever Given’ ran aground in the canal after 40-knot winds and a sandstorm may have caused low visibility and poor navigation. The ship has lodged itself across the waterway (see Photo 1).

Part 2: Social Impacts and Implications

Last month, I posted the first of a few articles that will consider the responsible integration of renewable and nuclear generation to foster economic, social, and security improvements. The first article can be found here.  In this second article, I wanted to shift towards the positive social implications from expanding generation assets in a responsible manner to support not just the aforementioned economic development but also long-term social benefits.

For developing countries (especially in Africa and Asia), central planning organizations have the perfect opportunity to develop long-range plans for key infrastructure expansion (notably in the energy sector) while simultaneously improving the quality of life for their citizens. Creating an effective long-term and fiscally responsible diversified energy plan using wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear power can help improve their social and education systems and support their development needs with the latest technology advances driving modern life in the 21^st century.