- Business voices have expressed overwhelming support for the transition to renewable electricity.
- ‘Powering up: Business perspectives on shifting to renewable electricity’ is a poll of nearly 1500 business executives across 15 major global economies and emerging markets (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Türkiye, UK and US).
- It was commissioned by E3G, Beyond Fossil Fuels and We Mean Business and conducted by Savanta.
It reveals that:
Business executives globally overwhelmingly back a rapid transition to renewable power, calling for a direct shift away from fossil fuels to renewables
- 97% support the transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, with 78% advocating for this within 10 years.
- Two thirds of business leaders said the energy transition doesn’t need to be done via gas: 67% advocate for a direct transition from coal to renewable energy with no new gas.
- Among business executives who want their government to prioritise investment in renewables, nearly nine in ten (87%) globally also want them to stop using coal-fired electricity completely within the next decade.
Big businesses want a transition to a fully renewables-based electricity system within a decade, and are planning to switch up their operations and suppliers to ensure a competitive edge and long-term energy security.
- Nearly three-quarters of big businesses plan to transition away from fossil fuels in their own organisations within a decade. 38% expect the majority of their electricity to come from renewables in 5 years, and a further 33% in 10 years.
- Half of business leaders globally plan to relocate their operations (52%) and supply chains (49%) if their government doesn’t transition.
- Over half (55%) see energy security as the top benefit of a renewables-based electricity system – improving energy security by reducing reliance on fossil fuel imports.
- Access to renewable electricity is a top priority for 90% of business leaders when deciding on where to invest.
- 93% of organisations are considering investing in on-site renewables to aid their operations.
Businesses want governments to step up, remove the top barriers to the transition and deliver the policy support and infrastructure needed for businesses to secure renewables at speed, or risk losing investment and jobs
- Alongside cost, top barriers included: insufficient national infrastructure for storing and distributing renewable electricity (38%), insufficient availability of renewable electricity sources (37%), policy and regulatory support (36%), and absence of detailed energy policies and plans (35%).
- A frequent policy request coming from business called for the government to provide incentives, education and training programs for workers in adjacent industries to reskill for renewable energy jobs (43%).
Read the full polling report here: Powering up: Business perspectives on shifting to renewable electricity.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
1 Comment
Thanks for consistently good reporting on energy news Bryan. 🙏🏽
I need to draw your attention to a discussion on Linked on the claim that 97% of SA business people are in favour of leapfrogging Gas by switching directly from our increasingly unreliable Coal to inherently intermittent Variable Renewable Energy.
There is another school of thought amongst most energy professionals, many of whom are also business people, that each technology has a defined role to play a role in our energy mix.
There is a general acceptance that there is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to utilise imported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), and then switch to Regional and Domestic Onshore and Offshore Piped-Gas to reduce GHG emissions more rapidly when switching from Coal to Gas, than could feasibly be achieved by means of variable Renewable Energy, even with the inclusion of Battery Energy Storage Systems at utility scale (not only rooftop Solar + BESS), only.
Please find below a link to the discussion on this report below:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lecordeur_nersa-gas-strategy-activity-7320430635364315136-ziK4?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&rcm=ACoAAABxjP0BcgqRRHI6oR0Bt56fpffxgYhhKyU