China seen as ‘absolute winner’ of clean energy transition

(EurActiv, 11 Jan 2019) The transformation brought by renewable energies will alter the global distribution of power, relations between states, and the environmental drivers of geopolitical instability, according to a major international study published on Friday (11 January).

“The global energy transformation driven by renewables will have significant geopolitical implications,” argues the report, presented today in Abu Dhabi.

“It will reshape relations between states and lead to fundamental structural changes in economies and society,” it argues.

The study, led by the former President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, was presented in Abu Dhabi by the Global Commission on the Geopolitics of Energy Transformation, an independent initiative launched one year ago under the auspices of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

It’s the first time that an international study explores the geopolitical implications of the global transition to renewable energy.

Fossil fuel exporting countries like Russia and Arab nations in the Middle East will be “strongly challenged” by the transition while others like China will be the “absolute winner, if not world leader,” said Grímsson as he presented the report in Abu Dhabi.

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EurActiv, 11 Jan 2019: China seen as ‘absolute winner’ of clean energy transition