Friday 12 November 2021 was the official end date of COP26 – the UN Climate Change Summit, hosted in Glasgow by the UK, in partnership with Italy.
After many twists and turns, the attendees finally reached a consensus on a closing deal. There was no agreement on what it meant from commentators. The verdict ranged from “a big step forward” to “nothing less than a scandal.” One thing that has not been in short supply has been commentators – governments, NGOs and, of course, trade bodies.
It is tempting to pass a verdict on the outcome. As an industry body representing many companies in the hydrocarbon-based energy sector, we know the efforts being made, and aspirations that are held. We also have members in the renewable energy sector working to shorten timescales to a level that would please even the harshest critics. In some cases, they are the same organisations. But we also have members who are users of power and energy. They are improving efficiency and aim to reduce their output of greenhouse gases for products that are critical to economies and societies; so, consistency of supply must be maintained, ideally at a cost that can keep their businesses going.
In short, EEMUA is not an advocacy group for an industry, and has no agenda to push in terms of favouring a particular approach, or funding strategy.
Together we are an engineering body that focusses relentlessly on making sure that industry has available the best approaches to operate efficiently and safely, regardless of industry or location. The laws of physics remain the same and make no distinction between how the energy is supplied. It would be a tragedy if the lessons learned by engineering industries, often through bitter experience, are discarded.
There are no arguments about “why” change is needed. COP26 brought governments together to start to address the “when” of energy transition. Our members, and many others around the world are working on the “what”.
We remain committed to ensuring that EEMUA members and stakeholders can turn to EEMUA for the “how” in the energy transition.
Stefan Kukula
Chief Executive