Energy - Climate
In the face of the climate emergency and geopolitical confrontations, how can we reconcile security of supply, competitiveness, accessibility, decarbonization and acceptability? What policies are needed?
Related Subjects
The Arctic: Critical Metals, Hydrogen and Wind Power for the Energy Transition
According to a 2008 estimate, the Arctic hosts approximately 412 billion barrels of oil equivalent of conventional oil and gas resources. And since then, following the so-called shale revolution and technology improvements, numbers have gone even higher.
Deep Seabed Mining of Critical Metals: Strategic and Governance Challenges
Interest in deep seabed mining is growing due to the increasing in global demand for metals and recent technological progress. Critical metals are used in low carbon energy technologies, as well as in the mobility, electronics and the defense industries. Metals become strategic when they are essential to the economy of a state, its defense and energy sector and when their supply presents high risks. Uneven distribution of resources and differences in cost of production have led to a market characterized by oligopolies (China for rare earth elements, or the Democratic Republic of Congo for cobalt). As the remaining onshore resources of critical metals appear complex and costly to exploit, attention has been shifting to deep sea resources.
The need for a strategic recycling approach to take up the challenge of critical metals
In September 2010, China stopped all exports of rare earths and associated products to Japan, depriving Japan’s industry of essential raw materials. This decision highlighted the tensions around the trade of critical materials and China’s monopoly on a group of particular metals. Western countries had already taken some initiatives so as to reduce, or at least to analyse their vulnerabilities in the segment of critical materials.
Mexico’s Energy Reforms at Risk?
Mexico’s Energy Reform (hereafter, the Reform) enacted on December 20th 2013, and the Secondary Laws adopted on August 11th 2014, marked a milestone in the history and the development of the Mexican energy sector.
These major changes were unexpected considering that multiple sectorial reforms pursued since the 1990s had systemically failed to address the structural problems which had been mounting over the years.
Oil rent and Corruption : the case of Nigeria
This study analyses the various mechanisms that explain the leakage of the main source wealth in Nigeria at all levels of the production and commercialization of oil and gas, from the wellheads, with the bunkering of pipelines, up to the export of crude oil and the import of refined products, including through capital flight to tax havens.
The US Oil Embargo on Iran: A New Oil Shock?
The 14 July 2015 Vienna agreement on Iran’s nuclear activities (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – JCPoA) was a game changer on the geopolitics in the Middle East and for the oil market. The oil sanctions were lifted and Iran increased significantly its production and exports. On 8 May 2018, President Trump announced that the United Stated (US) would withdraw from the agreement. Financial sanctions were reintroduced. From 5 November 2018 onwards, further sanctions will be re-imposed more specifically on petroleum related transactions, including the purchase of petroleum, petroleum products and petrochemical products. What could be the impact of this new embargo? Is there a risk of a new oil supply and price shock?
The Next Wave of Global LNG Investment Is Coming
With an annual growth of 10% in 2017 to 290 million tons (Mt) and 8.3% in the first half of 2018, Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) demand is rising faster than expected. Accounting for 44% of global demand growth in 2017, China is the main driver of the growth as the government has made natural gas a key policy choice to reduce air pollution and restructure its high-carbon energy mix.
Brexit, Electricity and the No-Deal Scenario: Perspectives from Continental Europe, Ireland and the UK
When it comes to energy and electricity in particular, there can be no winner in the Brexit negotiations. The only reasonable objective should be to minimise losses and avoid trade friction.
Booming Prices on the European Emission Trading System: From Market Oversupply to Carbon Bubble?
Since its creation in 2005, the European emission trading system (EU ETS) has been through several periods of turmoil. With emission allowances (EUA) averaging around 7 euros per ton from 2012 to 2017, European Member States have been trying to remedy the depressed price signals successively through market design reforms at both European level (backloading, market stability reserve) and national level, with the UK introducing a carbon price floor for its domestic power sector in 2013.
Japan’s Hydrogen Strategy and Its Economic and Geopolitical Implications
With the Basic Hydrogen Strategy (hereafter, the Strategy) released on December 26, 2017, Japan reiterated its commitment to pioneer the world’s first “Hydrogen Society”. The Strategy primarily aims to achieve the cost parity of hydrogen with competing fuels, such as gasoline in transport and Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) in power generation.
Russia reiventing the Wheel/Governance is not always better governance
The Gas Crisis and South-East Europe
Report written by Christi an Schülke, Junior Research Fellow, Ifri Bruxelles.
The Results of Negotiations on the "Climate and Energy Package"
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Related centers and programs
Center for Energy & Climate
Ifri's Energy and Climate Center carries out activities and research on the geopolitical and geoeconomic issues of energy transitions such as energy security, competitiveness, control of value chains, and acceptability. Specialized in the study of European energy/climate policies as well as energy markets in Europe and around the world, its work also focuses on the energy and climate strategies of major powers such as the United States, China or India. It offers recognized expertise, enriched by international collaborations and events, particularly in Paris and Brussels.