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Decarbonization
I think moving forward , energy companies will need to strike a balance between ambitious climate targets and realistic action plans that are financially viable . Whilst a more pragmatic approach in the future may be required , it will remain important for them convince investors , employees , consumers , and other stakeholders that they remain committed to playing their part in achieving net zero .
Rise of the climate change champions
Considering how central the energy sector is to global commerce , the impact of their reduced ambition will be that emissions will now stay higher for longer . Not only from the direct emissions attributed to these companies , but from the continued rate of consumption of their products . Wider global decarbonization goals are fully dependent on the energy sector . That goal is put at risk when the energy sector itself dials back their ambitions to transition away from fossil fuels .
By reducing ambition and continuing to invest in fossil fuels as opposed to low carbon alternatives we could unfortunately see a slowing down of the global effort to decarbonize . These are worrying times . These companies have a lot of influence and the messages this sends out could be picked up by other industries as an indication that they too should alter their commitments to net zero .
However , it is not all bad . There are still many energy companies fully committed to net zero who are developing renewable energy and low carbon technology . They could , in fact , be the real winners as the scaling back of others presents an opportunity for them to differentiate themselves as a climate change champion . ■
For a list of the sources used in this article , please contact the editor .
Colin Gault www . powwr . com
Colin Gault is head of product at POWWR . POWWR helps you sell and manage energy more efficiently by providing advanced platforms and simple solutions for both suppliers and brokers . In fact , it provides the only end-to-end connected journey for energy sales .
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