Osama Mobarez on HOW IS THE GEOPOLITICAL CRISIS TRANSFORMING THE ENERGY LANDSCAPE

Summary

The speaker emphasizes the pivotal role of natural gas in addressing energy challenges, advocating for its cleaner use and technological advancements to reduce emissions. Collaboration among governments, industry, and regulators is highlighted as crucial, particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), to diversify Europe's energy sources and enhance security. Financing is identified as a key obstacle to achieving climate and economic goals, with a call for support beyond rhetoric to fund gas projects and infrastructure, crucial for energy transition and climate action.

Takeaways

• 🌍 The speaker emphasizes the importance of gas as a cleaner fossil fuel and its role in overcoming the energy trilemma.
• 🔄 Gas is positioned as a transitional energy source that can help switch from coal to cleaner energy options.
• 🛠️ There is a focus on utilizing technologies to further clean and decarbonize gas, highlighting the role of the dmgf in this effort.
• 🌐 The Eastern Mediterranean is identified as a key region for gas development to support Europe's energy diversification.
• 🤝 Collaboration is stressed as crucial, involving governments, industry, regulators, and technology companies through platforms like the emgf.
• 🌐 The challenges of geopolitical tensions, climate change, and energy security are acknowledged as areas needing collective action.
• 💰 Financing is identified as a significant obstacle to achieving ambitious climate and economic growth targets.
• 🔉 There has been a shift in the narrative around fossil fuels, particularly gas, with increased acceptance of its role in the energy transition.
• 🚧 The need for funding is highlighted for both gas development and infrastructure, including interconnectivity projects.
• 🏦 Financing constraints from institutes are still a barrier to gas projects and infrastructure, despite the changing narrative.
• 🌳 COP 28 is recognized for creating funds to address climate challenges, with hopes for further progress at COP 29.

Q & A

What are the three main topics the speaker intends to discuss?

The speaker plans to discuss the importance of gas, the significance of collaboration in facing multiple challenges, and the issue of financing.

Why is gas considered a cleaner fossil fuel according to the speaker?

Gas is considered cleaner because it is the least polluting among fossil fuels, and there are existing technologies that can further clean and decarbonize gas.

What role does the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (DMGF) play in the context mentioned by the speaker?

The DMGF focuses on developing more gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to support the diversification of Europe's energy sources, especially during times of crisis and challenges.

What is the 'trilemma' the speaker refers to, and how does gas help overcome it?

The 'trilemma' likely refers to the challenge of balancing energy security, economic growth, and environmental sustainability. Gas helps overcome this by being a cleaner alternative to coal and by supporting technological advancements for cleaner energy production.

How does the speaker describe the collaborative nature of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF)?

The EMGF is characterized by its inclusiveness of various stakeholders, including governments, industry, regulators, and technology companies, which is crucial for addressing challenges such as geopolitical, climate, and energy security issues.

What is the main obstacle the speaker identifies in achieving global ambitious targets related to economic growth and climate action?

The main obstacle identified is financing, as there is a gap between having ambitious targets and the availability of funds to realize these goals, particularly in the context of gas development and infrastructure.

How has the narrative around fossil fuels and gas changed in the past two years according to the speaker?

The narrative has shifted to be more accepting of the role of gas, recognizing its importance in the energy transition and the need for funding to support its development and infrastructure.

What are the challenges the speaker sees in the availability of financing for gas projects and infrastructure?

The speaker mentions constraints from financing institutes in providing funds for gas projects and infrastructure, which is crucial for the development and production of gas as well as for addressing climate challenges.

What was a significant milestone achieved at COP 28 according to the speaker?

COP 28 achieved a significant milestone by creating funds to address climate challenges, which is an important step towards securing financing for climate action.

What does the speaker hope to see at COP 29 in terms of financing for climate challenges?

The speaker hopes that COP 29 will achieve further milestones and see a breakthrough in securing funding for climate challenges, including the development of gas projects and infrastructure.

Outlines

00:00

🌟 The Role and Significance of Gas

The speaker expresses gratitude for being at the event and outlines three main topics: the importance of gas, the necessity of collaboration, and the challenges of financing. They emphasize that gas, being the cleanest fossil fuel, plays a crucial role in overcoming the energy trilemma. The speaker mentions the use of technology to make gas cleaner and the focus on developing more gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to support Europe's energy diversification during times of crisis.

Keywords

💡gas

Gas, in the context of this video, refers to natural gas, which is a fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane. It is considered the cleanest fossil fuel due to its lower carbon emissions compared to coal and oil. The speaker emphasizes the role of gas in overcoming the energy trilemma, which involves balancing energy security, economic viability, and environmental sustainability. The script mentions the development of technologies to make gas cleaner and the focus on producing it more responsibly.

💡collaboration

Collaboration is highlighted as a crucial element in addressing the challenges faced in the energy sector. The script discusses the importance of bringing together different stakeholders, including governments, industry, regulators, and technology companies, to work collectively towards solutions. This is exemplified by the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), which facilitates such partnerships to enhance energy security and address geopolitical and climate challenges.

💡financing

Financing is identified as a key obstacle in achieving ambitious targets related to economic growth and climate action. The script points out that while there is a political acceptance of the role of gas, the availability of funding for gas projects and infrastructure remains a challenge. Financing is essential not only for the development and production of gas but also for the interconnectivity of energy systems and addressing climate change.

💡trilemma

The energy trilemma refers to the complex challenge of simultaneously achieving energy security, economic growth, and environmental sustainability. The script mentions that switching to gas can help overcome this trilemma, as it offers a more environmentally friendly alternative to coal while still providing the necessary energy security and economic benefits.

💡decarbonize

Decarbonize means to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions produced by burning fossil fuels. The speaker talks about using technologies and projects to decarbonize the production of gas, making it a cleaner energy source. This aligns with the broader goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change.

💡EMES

EMES stands for 'Environmental, Social, and Governance' criteria, which are non-financial factors used to assess the sustainability and ethical impact of investments. The script mentions reducing EMES as part of the efforts to produce gas more responsibly, indicating a commitment to sustainable practices in the energy sector.

💡dmgf

Dmgf likely refers to an organization or initiative related to the development of natural gas resources. The script mentions dmgf's focus on developing more gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to support diversification of Europe's energy sources, particularly in times of crisis and challenges.

💡interconnectivity

Interconnectivity in the energy sector refers to the physical and operational linkage between different energy systems or networks. The script discusses the need for funding to develop infrastructure that enhances interconnectivity, which is essential for energy security and the efficient distribution of energy resources.

💡regulators

Regulators in the context of the script are government agencies or other authoritative bodies that oversee and enforce rules within the energy sector. They are part of the collaborative platforms mentioned, working alongside governments, industry, and technology companies to ensure responsible and sustainable energy practices.

💡technology companies

Technology companies are businesses that develop and provide innovative solutions, including those related to energy production and distribution. The script highlights the role of these companies in collaboration with other stakeholders to advance cleaner gas technologies and address the energy trilemma.

💡COP 28

COP 28 refers to the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The script mentions that COP 28 achieved a great milestone by creating funds to address climate change, indicating the importance of international cooperation and financial commitment in combating climate challenges.

Highlights

The speaker emphasizes the importance of gas as a cleaner fossil fuel and its role in overcoming the energy trilemma.

Technological advancements can make gas even cleaner, which is a focus point at the DMGF.

The Eastern Mediterranean is a focal point for developing more gas to support Europe's energy diversification.

There's an ongoing effort to produce gas more responsibly through various decarbonization projects and technologies.

The EMGF is characterized by its inclusive platform involving governments, industry, regulators, and technology companies.

Collaboration among different stakeholders is crucial for facing geopolitical, climate, and energy security challenges.

Financing is identified as a major obstacle to achieving ambitious economic growth and climate action targets.

The narrative around fossil fuels and gas is changing, with a growing acceptance of gas's role in the energy mix.

Availability of financing and funding for gas projects and infrastructure remains a significant challenge.

Funding is necessary not only for gas development but also for infrastructure and interconnectivity.

There are still constraints from financial institutions in providing funds for gas-related projects.

The COP 28 has achieved a milestone in creating funds to address climate challenges, but more progress is needed.

The upcoming COP 29 is anticipated to achieve further milestones and breakthroughs in climate financing.

The importance of addressing the financing gap for both gas projects and climate ambitions is highlighted.

The speaker calls for a collective effort to ensure the availability of funds for realizing climate and energy goals.

The need for concrete plans to achieve ambitious targets is underscored, alongside the importance of financing.

Transcripts

thank you thank you John it's a it's

really a pleasure for me to be back to

this great event and uh I think I will

very briefly tackle three topics one is

the importance of

gas and second is the importance of

collaboration especially in facing the

multiple challenges that we're facing

and the third one about

financing so I think gas is playing and

will play a significant role and we have

heard this from prime minister

mitsotakis in in the dinner yesterday

about how can gas overcome the trilemma

that Ambassador B was talking about it's

better to use and switch to gas than

coal and definitely gas although it is a

fossil fuel but it is the cleanest

fossil fuel not just that but we have a

lot of technologies that can G can make

can make gas even cleaner and I think

this is one of our Focus points at dmgf

we're focusing on developing more gas

from the Eastern Mediterranean to

support diversification of Europe

especially in these times of Crisis and

challenges not just that but we're

trying to produce more gas in a more

responsible way through a lot of

Technologies a lot of projects to

decarbonize and reduce EMES so this is

one thing another thing we're trying to

do this through a lot of

collaborative uh platforms and

collaborative mechanisms and I think the

emgf one of its characteristics it that

it is not just about the governments but

we have the governments we have the

industry we have the regulators and the

technology companies so I think bringing

the different stakeholders together is a

very important platform for

collaboration especially facing all the

challenges whether geopolitical whether

the climate challenge or even the energy

security and the tri trilemma that we

are

facing the last point is financing so I

think the the global uh world is having

a lot of ambitious targets especially

when when we're talking about economic

growth and also uh about climate action

but I think it's it's good to have

ambitious targets it's good to have a

vision but also we need to have concrete

plans to achieve this and I think one of

the main obstacles is

financing and the good thing is is in

the past two years let's say the

narrative about the fossil fuels and

about gas in particular has been

changing uh people now and the political

narrative is

accepting uh the gas and the role of gas

but what's really challenging is the

availability of financing and funding

really to to make gas or to have the

contribution of gas in the uh facing the

trma we need a lot of funding funding

not just to develop and produce gas but

as we have been discussing about the

infrastructure the

interconnectivity and we still see a lot

of constraints from the financing

institutes in funding and availing funds

for gas projects and gas infrastructure

so I think this is an important

topic that we need to address not just

funding for gas but also funding the

Ambitions about the climate Challenge

and the climate change and I think the

cop 28 achieved uh a great milestone in

this regard uh creating the funds for

this but still I think it's it's a long

way to go hopefully in cop 29 we can

achieve further milestones and we can

see a breakthrough in this regard