Energy and Climate Intersections
How energy systems drive climate change, how climate change disrupts energy systems, and the politics of aligning the two agendas.
The Energy-Climate Nexus
Energy production and use account for roughly 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The climate crisis is fundamentally an energy crisis: solving it requires transforming how humanity produces and consumes energy. The International Energy Agency's net-zero scenario requires that renewable electricity generation quadruple by 2030, that no new fossil fuel exploration be approved, and that coal use falls by 90% by 2050.
But the relationship runs both ways. Climate change is already disrupting energy systems. Droughts reduce hydropower output in Brazil, China, and East Africa. Heat waves strain electricity grids as air conditioning demand surges. Rising sea levels threaten coastal refineries and power plants. Permafrost melting damages pipelines in Russia and Alaska. The energy system that causes climate change is increasingly vulnerable to its effects.
