In person icon Governance of Energy Security in the Face of Geopolitical and Climate Uncertainty

Abstract

Since 2022, following the war started by Russia in Ukraine, geopolitical uncertainty in Europe has increased, while we see geopolitical turmoil also in other parts of the world with cascading impacts on the energy system. Such impacts relate to the availability of different forms of energy, sanctions or preferences in energy trade, and prices of energy – influencing also the advancement of low-carbon energy transitions. In addition, new risks are generated for energy systems by the accelerating climate change, the effects of which are intertwined with increasing geopolitical uncertainty. These include weather-induced direct risks, via storms, drought, flooding, extreme heat etc. for the energy infrastructure as well as indirect risks via cascading effects occurring as climate change impacts global trade and supply chains or institutional settings. Both climate change and the energy transition create also financial, macro-economic and monetary risks and challenges which impact the governance of energy security. Geopolitical and climate change adaptation alike were rather little acknowledged in European energy policies prior to 2022. It is now clear that the governance of energy security needs to expand to the changing security and risk setting, taking better into account the diversity of geopolitical and climate change impacts on the energy systems and the unfolding energy transition. This panel explores the governance challenges placed on energy security (and its close links with climate and economic policies) in this rapidly changing context. It hence calls for the governance of energy security to expand from traditional approaches to improved consideration of climate change related and geopolitical risks – and their interconnections. It also explores policy changes currently taking place to address these challenges and their possible impacts on decarbonization and climate change adaptation. The panel presentations address both national level developments (e.g. Belgium, Finland) and EU energy policy. The governance questions addressed relate to different energy sources as well as the required clean technologies and critical raw materials, and adaptation to climate change risks. In addition, the panel presentations examine how the energy sector is responding and prepared for such challenges, what governance problems are encountered and what kind of solutions are needed. The presentations draw from different literatures including the political science of energy, geopolitics of energy, security studies and transition studies to explore this thematic, aiming to find common points of interest.

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