New European Priorities for Economic, Environment and Energy Policies

In the last 24 months, the concept of “sustainability” has been catapulted from the arid echelons of think tanks and academic seminaries into the front row of international politics. The world faces a complex set of challenges affecting the price and availability of energy. These have immense implications for industry and business.

The reasons for the surge in the oil price to $60 - $70 a barrel are manifold. They range from the faster than expected demand for oil in China, India and other emerging markets to the threat of disruption of Persian Gulf supplies by a terrorist attack and recent signs that Russia may be prepared to use its energy supplies as a political weapon towards countries such as Ukraine. The unrest and uncertainty in Iraq have acted as a general stimulant to energy prices – exactly the opposite of what was intended when the US-led invasion took place three years ago, partly in a bid to keep down the price of oil by lowering geopolitical tensions in the region.

With continued economic growth, the world’s energy needs could increase by 50% within 25 years. Unchecked, this will result in significantly higher carbon emissions, seen by many scientists as producing an unfavourable effect on world climate. The world must therefore find new ways of meeting its burgeoning energy needs while at the same time cutting carbon dioxide emissions.

These challenges pose serious questions not just for governments, regulators and the energy industry, but for the way businesses in every sector are run and managed. To tackle the challenge of sustainability, businesses need to look at the opportunity for sustainable resource management across the board, with repercussions in many areas ranging from power supply, environmental projection and recycling to waste management and factory automation.

Britain and Germany – the two biggest economies in the European Union, with many varied relationships in the energy and environmental technology businesses – share much common ground in providing answers to the conundrum of sustainability.