The European Union had started preparing the ground for its “green” transition well before that the war in Ukraine forced it to change plans, re-orientating policy choices towards the fulfilment of short-term energy needs.
I Paesi UE guardano a fornitori diversi da Mosca e Abuja ha le potenzialità per diventare un partner chiave. Ma pesa il fattore credibilità.
Rural sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is the global poverty hotspot, with rural communities relying on smallholder farming as the main source of income. The lack of access to irrigation water and electricity makes farmers particularly vulnerable to climate-related stressors, also threatening communities’ food security.
Risk perspective plays an integral and sensitive role in climate-related issues and the energy sector in Africa. Indeed, the continent is currently facing the alarming challenge of climate change, combined with important concerns regarding its energy trilemma, exacerbated by price fluctuations due to the current international instability.
In March, the establishment of a new administration parallel with Abdelhamid Dbeibah’s United Nations-backed Government of National Unity (GNU) caught global attention, as Libya slipped back to an era of explicit political divisions. However, the timeline and fault lines of this crisis predate the appointment of Fathi Bashagha’s parallel Government of National Stability (GNS), which is supported by the House of Representatives (HoR, Libya’s parliament). Instead, the roots can be traced to the battle to control Libya’s budget throughout the last eighteen months.
The norm since the end of the civil war in Lebanon in 1990 has been for the population to pay two bills for a day’s worth of electricity: one to Électricité du Liban (EDL) — a public utility provider — and the other to the private generator of each neighborhood. Master plans were drafted yet never executed, much like the promised reforms of the electricity sector, which never materialized. Today, Lebanon faces multiple crises and is in free fall. Amidst the meltdown, the energy sector has been the most affected, with hour-long blackouts.
As Asia was divided in its condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the rise of the price of commodities is having an uneven impact over the region.
The more advanced economies are facing challenges similar to those that Europe is experiencing, where inflation and energy demands are the primary concerns.
In contrast, emerging markets are more concerned for their national food security.
The energy transition and the quest for a carbon-neutral world have brought about declining investments in fossil fuels worldwide, pushed by lower subsidies and rising carbon taxes.
The increase of the world’s electricity need is approaching a quick surge due to the spread of mobility electrification, the increase in the global population, and the growing use of air conditioning and electronic systems.
COVID-19 containment measures and 2020 low oil prices exposed the vulnerability of MENA petroleum producing economies to external shocks. The heavy reliance on oil exports means that volatility in oil prices has significant impact on the economy. In times of sinking oil demand, this translates into fiscal deterioration and public expenditures cuts.
The severe power outages that plagued China since September 2021 have highlighted the clash between efforts to limit environmental degradation and short-term economic realities. Lower supplies of coal—due to tighter environmental and safety inspections—combined with soaring power demand on the back of an infrastructure-heavy economic recovery, led to severe power cuts in over 20 Chinese provinces. The power rationing has weighed on the country’s economic growth and impacted global supply chains.