Global crises follow one another and do not seem to be running out of steam: barely out of a pandemic, we are plunged into an energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine, all against a backdrop of a climate crisis.
Posted at 11:00 a.m.
These events expose the limits of our intertwined economic, social, environmental and energy systems. It is thus becoming increasingly clear that simply returning to a state of “before” the crises will not put us on the right track.
The coming months will test our governments’ commitments to reconcile economic growth, energy security, social equity and the fight against climate change. This is all the more true since several experts are predicting that the current energy crisis will not improve any time soon, so that some are already busy reviving defunct liquefied natural gas and oil export projects. However, the reality is that these projects would not see the light of day for several years and would only increase our dependence on hydrocarbons rather than encouraging us to tend towards sobriety and the energy transition which, most often, are combined with a greater local autonomy of resources.
The ongoing energy crisis must not be used to exacerbate the climate crisis. On the contrary, we must seize the opportunity to accelerate the transition towards a fairer, more prosperous and sustainable economy which, moreover, is already an objective adopted by several governments and defended by many players in civil society.
Faced with such a situation, how can we take advantage of the lessons learned from the crises we are facing so as not to “waste” them? Three lines of thought are proposed here.
Prioritizing the circular economy
These crises are interrelated. We must therefore avoid solving them in isolation. Countries are becoming aware of their dependence on highly complex, integrated and intensive supply chains of energy and strategic resources from other countries. In order to free ourselves from it a little bit, we need to review our processes and modes of production and consumption. To foster economic growth and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, governments must increase wealth creation through optimization, waste reduction and efficient use of material and energy resources across a product’s value chain. or a service. The transition to a circular economy not only improves the productivity and resilience of businesses and the economy, it reduces its environmental footprint.
Do more, with less
With the rise in oil prices and inflation, our collective and individual purchasing power is reduced. So we need to find ways to get more for our money and do more with less. During the oil crisis of the 1970s, governments set new standards for energy efficiency and eco-taxation to make better use of resources that were then more expensive (such as cars and buildings). This has had the effect of increasing the productivity of our energy: that is to say that for each liter of gasoline or kilowatt-hour consumed, the user derives more well-being. Being more efficient in our use of resources is money in our pockets.
Better integrating science into decision-making
Over the past two years, there has been general agreement that we must avoid politicizing the management of the pandemic in order to get out of it. There were many voices recognizing the importance of public opinions and analyzes produced by competent and independent scientific structures.
The pandemic has served to illustrate how access to scientific data is a key factor in the decision-making process and social acceptability that can lead to effective and collective action in times of crisis.
In the same vein, governments must base their decisions on conclusive data and put forward long-lasting and transparent structures capable of providing interdisciplinary expertise, independent of electoral cycles and capable of defining actions that optimally reconcile the environment, social equity, energy needs, threats to public health and the economy.
Climate change will remain a threat that we will have to manage, alongside other complex crises, be they pandemics, wars or energy crises. Creating a resilient low-emissions economy will require decades of public and private investment to transform our economic models and individual behaviors. Rather than resorting to opportunistic short-term solutions, we need integrated solutions that allow us to move forward simultaneously on all fronts at once.