Twin crises facing world to speed up energy transition, says expert

The world now faces twin crises of climate and energy and the solutions to both are the same -- more global cooperative efforts to accelerate the energy transition, Fred Krupp, President of U.S.-based non-profit group Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), told Xinhua at the ongoing global energy forum CERAWeek.

"These twin crises cause tremendous disruption to the need for continued economic growth and healthy lives," Krupp said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Tuesday at the forum.

The recent energy shock, Krupp said, "is certainly at least one of the first energy crises" during the era of the energy transition which the world has already entered.

"We can solve both of these at the same time. Because moving away from fossil fuel is the solution to both of these crises," he said.

The environmental advocate stressed that the energy transition should not only play out speedily, but also "in a way that keeps costs down and makes the transition practical for all countries."

To solve climate and energy crises together, the transition must be equitable for people all over the world, especially not penalize those living in developing economies.

Among all challenges during the transition, methane pollution is a serious and major one that needs immediate solution.

"The emissions of methane will cause more global warming in the next decade than the emissions of burning all the fossil fuel everywhere on the planet will cause in the next decade," he warned.

He also expressed hope that the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), which is to be held in the United Arab Emirates later this year, will "finally have concrete action plans for all countries to bring down methane emissions from the oil and gas sector."

While there is "a tremendous buzz" about how important hydrogen will be during the five-day CERAWeek, one of the most influential global energy forum held in Houston annually, Krupp seems less than optimistic.

He noted that though hydrogen is essential for certain applications, when hydrogen leaks into the atmosphere, it becomes "a very powerful greenhouse gas like methane."

Looking forward to the COP28, Krupp was hopeful that more countries will come together and make progress despite current differences between the Global South and Global North on climate actions.

"We're all in the same boat," he said. "There's nothing that's more important than geopolitical cooperation as opposed to tension."

Instead of "using issues to divide us, we need to build bridges between all the countries and solve this problem together."

Krupp also hailed the tremendous progress that's been made in China on air purification and development on climate-friendly technologies, and voiced confidence about China-U.S. cooperation in climate actions despite recent frictions.

"I believe the countries will cooperate because it's imperative for the future of everyone in China and everyone in the United States and everyone on the planet that these two great nations do cooperate."

The EDF, one of the world's most influential environmental organization according to the CERAWeek website, has worked with China for 30 years and will "definitely" continue to cooperate with China, said Krupp, who took the helm of EDF in 1984.

"If we can solve both the climate and the energy problem together, the whole world will be more secure," he concluded.

More than 7,000 participants including policymakers, industry leaders, company executives, investors and researchers from over 80 countries and regions attended the 2023 CERAWeek, which is to end Friday, according to organizer S&P Global.