Some 91% of business leaders across 18 countries believe that a transition to electrification would improve energy security, while four fifths (79%) said that geopolitical instability has increased the urgency of their own electrification efforts.
That’s according to a new survey undertaken by the We Mean Business Coalition, E3G and the Global Renewables Alliance.
As it found, business executives across all countries support a rapid move away from fossil fuel-based systems, with 90% expecting their operations to be fully electrified by 2035.
Reshaping policy
The survey was undertaken in April, when concerns over the Strait of Hormuz were at their peak, and follows on from a recent International Energy Agency (IEA) report that found that repeated energy shocks are reshaping government and company investment priorities.
Other findings from the survey include that 88% of business leaders believe that electrification would ‘make their business more competitive’, while 72% believe that government policies are lagging behind in this area.
Notably, more than three fifths (62%) said that they may consider moving their operations if the government didn’t offer sufficient support to assist them in their electrification efforts.
‘More volatile’
“Businesses today are operating in a structurally more volatile energy landscape, where continued reliance on fossil fuels exposes companies and economies to recurring shocks,” commented Dimitri de Vreeze, CEO, dsm-firmenich. “The transition to renewable energy, and particularly electrification using clean power, is the most pragmatic way to strengthen resilience, improve cost stability and sustain competitiveness. It’s a clear win for people, the planet, and profit.”
Business leaders of medium-sized and large organisations were surveyed in countries including Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Nigeria, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“This is not the first fossil fuel crisis, and it will not be the last,” added José Manuel Entrecanales, chairman and CEO, ACCIONA. “The lesson is becoming increasingly clear: dependence on imported fuels is. a strategic vulnerability and an unnecessary burden on the balance of payments of countries that do not produce fossil fuels.
“At the same time, access to abundant, affordable electricity is emerging as a decisive competitive advantage. Electrification is not merely an energy transition; it is an industrial strategy.” Read more here.
