🎧 Climate Ambition vs Energy Reality

Episode summary: David and Helen talk to Jason Bordoff, Dean of the Columbia Climate School and former Special Assistant to Barack Obama, about climate, COP26 and the enormous challenges of the energy transition. How can we balance the need for energy security with the need to wean the world off its dependency on fossil fuels? Why is China still so reliant on coal? Who will pay for the energy needs of the developing world? Plus, just how scared are the oil companies of public opinion? You can read more of Jason’s work here. Talking Points: Energy transition will require a lot of capital investment. - Clean energy tends to be more capital intensive in the short term; although the long-term operating costs are lower. - Private capital needs to be mobilized to make this happen. - Can large financial institutions forgo significant returns if oil prices go back up? There is a clash between climate ambition and energy reality. - The reality is that, despite tremendous advances in clean energy, oil and gas usage are still going up.…