Sustainable energy: linking the local and global agendas Catherine Mitchell University of Exeter

Overview Increasingly complex energy policy drivers UK’s environmental challenge Energy security concerns Movement to a multipolar world Supply chain issues Sustainable development and poverty reduction The challenge Potential resolution – linking local with global

Climate change and energy The UK needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by % by 2050 to limit temperature increase to around 2°C Most carbon dioxide emissions come from the use of fossil fuels for energy UK GHG emissions 2006

Where we’re at

Renewables in the UK energy mix Renewables currently provide about 1.4% of the energy used in the UK UK signed up to EU Action Plan with target of 15% renewable energy by 2020 Will require effective policy to ensure uptake

Challenge to UK Government: Urgent and major CO2 cuts needed while meeting Energy Policy Goals (2007 EWP) Goals: Environmental Social Equitable Local and global Secure Economic and competitive Question is: how best to do this?

The Complex World of Energy Policy The energy industry is liberalised and privatised Company interests may differ from Government or consumers People/customers more involved There are global environmental concerns a matter of urgency sustainable development concerns Global poverty reduction global resource depletion concerns security concerns access to resources terrorism other linked issues, such as food security Multiple low carbon technology pathways

Energy security of increasing importance Technical issues of keeping lights on etc Physical issues of accessing/delivering fuels/resources Eg Oil, gas, uranium Wider supply chain issues related to accessing necessary resources to develop, and maintain, a sustainable and secure energy system (eg copper) UK now a net importer of energy having been a net exporter until recently

Global backdrop - the move to a multipolar world Economic and political power in the world is changing Increasing tension in Middle East Changing dependencies between oil producing and consuming countries Fall of Berlin Wall Breakup of Former Soviet Union Emergence of Russian nationalist capitalism New world powers of Russia, Brazil, China, India leading to multipolar global governance

The Mulipolar Powers Are becoming increasingly important global economic actors With increased energy and resource needs Are making strategic alliances Eg China and Africa for resources In order to strengthen supply chains Increasing energy and resource demand is leading to increasing global resource prices Including global food prices, leading to food security becoming serious global issue bioenergy Together, this is leading to complex outcomes

Supply Chain Vulnerability Increasing Oil and gas access and delivery is a supply chain issue Supply chains in general are becoming more complex because of global sourcing Supply chain risks are increasing as multipolar powers require and source resources, including energy Supply chains may be both strategically broken and developed New sustainable energy technologies need new supply chains Already seen some difficulties with them To access resources and components Complex developing new supply chains, but in a multipolar, resource-constrained world even more complex

SD, Millennium Goals and Poverty IPCC AR4 concluded that an essential part of CC mitigation is global poverty reduction Access to energy IPCC AR5 in early stages One aspect of IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy will look at role of RE in reducing poverty reduction

Challenge for UK Government Has to meet climate change and sustainability concerns, and quickly What may be energy secure may not be climate secure The need to develop a set of principles of interaction with the new multipolar powers, and then get going on developing those relationships Enable development policies which complement poverty reduction in parallel with energy and climate security implement policies which counter the increasing concerns about l-t availability, and price of, oil gas and uranium

Meeting the challenge – requirements for energy and climate security Reduce energy security risk by reducing dependence on physical supply and increase resilience of supply chains Reduce UK energy consumption in widest sense Not just direct energy use Foster supportive supply chain relationships through foreign policy/international relations Link energy security and climate change requirements (ie substantial emission reductions) with sustainable energy definitions Stable, resilient, durable and robust (Stirling, 2008) Climate security Renewable energy and demand reduction

Problem for energy and climate policy is: Physical and supply chain issues tend to be dealt with separately from technical and economic aspects of domestic infrastructure and markets Energy security (ie geo-politics) issues tend to be dealt with separately from environmental concerns (ie climate security issues) Energy security tends to be dealt with separately from other security issues, such as food security and other interface issues related to system change

Need to bring them together:

Decentralisation seems to be only way to satisfactorily answer those demands: Arguable, not possible to achieve lifestyle changes which leads to consumption changes without greater connection of individuals to energy and sustainability Energy efficiencies (and therefore reduced emissions) with greater linkage and decentralisation of waste, agriculture and food production Decentralisation more able to deliver energy and climate security needs Complex to link local and global and promote SD and global poverty issues without decentralisation

What does this mean for policy now? Linking local and global Sustainable, climate secure, resilient policies implies serious energy demand reduction (including via buildings, transport, waste resources, food policy, consumption) greater levels of renewables (heat, transport, electricity) More local / people involvement Should build up supply chains for new technologies