If we look at the energy dossier, we cannot ignore its complexity, both at the national and international level, for both the developed and developing countries. Such a complexity brings forth a number of challenges to the nations of the world that need to be approached with full responsibility, sense of solidarity and concern for the future of both planet and mankind. Let’s name a few challenges:
First of all, we have to note the paradoxical situation that there is a constantly growing demand for energy, estimated to rise by more than 50% by the year 2030, and there is also an apparent incapacity of science, technology and industry to generate enough alternative energy sources and production, so that approximately 80% of 2030 needs would still be met by fossil fuels, which are limited resources.
The energy consumption is growing constantly. The most energy consuming branches – industry and transport systems, particularly in the United States -, are largely reliant on oil and gas, and such situation will persist for an undetermined period of time.
Access to energy has become critical to sustaining growth in China and India and importers have come to compete for supplies, driving up high and volatile prices.
Moreover, political instability, natural disasters and other threats reveal the vulnerability of critical energy infrastructure in numerous countries of the world.
Increasing import dependence in many countries is paralleled by a growing interdependence between producing, consuming and transiting countries, with enormous investments required along the entire energy chain.
The market power of energy suppliers turned now into a political power, countries such as Russia, Venezuela and Iran have gained the capacity to play important roles in shaping the regional and international politics that go well beyond their GDP.
The failure to deliver on the hope of greater prosperity could unravel both authoritarian and democratic regimes, as populations become more educated and demanding.
Last, but not least, there is a imperious need to protect the environment and to tackle the climate change.
For more than a century, energy, politics and power are clearly intertwined as a force in international security and the stakes are getting bigger as such issues go beyond national prosperity and security, to the viability of the entire planet.
If the resource economy is the driving force of globalization – half of the 100 biggest multinational companies in the world belong to the energy and resource economy -, the geopolitics of energy constitutes the driving factor in global prosperity and security and the political nature of energy, which comes to public attention at any moments of crisis, is no longer questionable.