The transition to renewable generation sources and energy security should be key themes of the World Economic Forum (WEF 2024), the first major global event of the year, being held in Davos, Switzerland. In its latest report on the topic, published in June 2023, the World Economic Forum takes stock of what to expect regarding the development of the two issues and indicates current lines of discussion.
Worthy Promote efficient energy conversion (or Promote efficient energy conversion, In a free translation), the report also provides a ranking of the countries that are most advanced in this process.
The so-called Energy Transition Index (ETI) was revised last year and assesses global performance in this area. The Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland) continue to maintain higher rankings, obtaining relevant scores in both performance systems and readiness for transition. Brazil comes in 14th place and is the only Latin American country among the top 20 ranked countries, in addition to being the only developing economy in this group.
What is important here is that over the past decade, China, the world’s largest energy consumer, has achieved gains of 43% – nearly double the global average – in its readiness for transition, making its way into the top 20 as the only Asian country. .
The diverse energy mix is different
The experts who prepared the document – analysts from Accenture – recall that there are no unique dimensions for all countries. They highlight that the best ranked economies on the issue of energy security are mainly developed economies, such as the United States, Australia and Estonia, followed by Malaysia, a developing country. They all share a highly diversified energy mix, minimal dependence on fuel imports and minimal interruptions to energy supplies.
You may also like
The countries with the lowest energy security scores are Lebanon, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic, mainly due to challenges related to energy diversity, the need for energy imports, and the loss of electricity.
Latin America leads the table in terms of the sustainable dimension with Costa Rica, Paraguay and Uruguay, due to its abundant hydroelectric potential. At the other extreme are countries such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, due to their high energy and carbon intensity and very low level of clean energy participation in the mix.
Only two countries – India and Singapore – are making progress in all aspects of energy system performance.
Challenges
The document also highlights that the current energy transition path is putting countries under pressure and that the ETI score has increased each successive year over the past decade, but growth has stabilized over the past three years due to increasing challenges to equity and inclusion. .
Energy market volatility caused by macroeconomic and geopolitical problems over the past three years has led to severe price shocks, exacerbating poverty and paralyzing access to energy. High fuel prices have already affected competitiveness in terms of energy costs in intensive industries. The increasing burden of subsidies, in turn, represents a threat to economic growth.
In the World Economic Forum’s assessment, low-income countries were disproportionately affected, facing concurrent challenges that included fuel price inflation, food price inflation, and increasing debt burdens.
