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Geopolitics of fossil fuels

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The Geopolitics of fossil fuels research axis whithin Ifri's Center for Energy and Climate deals with global geopolitical trends of the oil, gas and coal sectors, with a focus on short and longer term trends in demand and supply.

Marc-Antoine EYL-MAZZEGA

Director of Ifri’s Center for Energy & Climate

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Olivier APPERT

Senior Advisor, Center for Energy & Climate

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Benjamin AUGE

Associate Research Fellow, Sub-Saharan Africa Center / Center for Energy and Climate

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Sylvie CORNOT-GANDOLPHE

Associate Research Fellow, Center for Energy & Climate

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01/03/2024

Electric vehicles (EVs) are better for the climate – even in worst-case scenarios. Across its life cycle, a typical European electric car produces less greenhouse gas (GHG) and air pollutants or noise than its petrol or diesel equivalent. Emissions are usually higher in the production phase,...

25/01/2024

The European Green Deal has not been planned for the current extraordinarily deteriorated internal and external environment. Russia’s war in Ukraine, higher interest rates, inflation, strained public finances, weakened value chains, and lack of crucial skills pose unprecedented challenges....

11/01/2024

Lula was elected President of the Republic on October 30, 2022, after a closer-thanexpected second round, with 50.9% of the votes cast and just 2.1 million votes over the incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro. His vice-president is Geraldo Alckmin, from the centre-right. However, in the legislative...

30/11/2023

The UN climate conference in Dubai faces a moment of troubled geopolitical agenda lowering the focus on the climate emergency, but natural ecosystems will not wait for human decisions. A challenging test for the survival of diplomacy.

16/11/2023

“Humanity has opened the gates of hell”, said the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres during the Climate Ambition Summit, in New York, in September 2023, three months before COP28. The sense of urgency that he conveyed seems shared across the international community. 

08/11/2023
By: Marc-Antoine EYL-MAZZEGA, Diana-Paula GHERASIM, Clémentine VANNIER, Adam CONTU

The deployment at scale of electric mobility in France and in Europe withholds significant industrial, societal, geopolitical, and financial challenges, against the backdrop of strategic dependencies along the value chain of the electric vehicle (EV).

02/10/2023

In a previous note published in 2018, we noted that global coal demand had flattened. Several governments had announced coal phase-out plans, global coal power investment had contracted, and investment in greenfield coal mines was also at a standstill. The freezing of financial resources...

04/07/2023

North-South tensions are exacerbated at a time of unprecedented turmoil for both Europeans and Africans. European polycrises (geopolitical, energy-related and economic) echo the systematic vulnerability of Africans, which is reinforced by external shocks.

20/06/2023

Finance is arguably the most sensitive climate negotiation topic. Different studies have shown that rich countries emit the majority of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while the climate footprint of the poorest countries is much more limited.

19/04/2023

Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the brutal decoupling from Russian fossil fuels, is a game changer for the Central and Eastern Europe region which was still heavily dependent on Russia for its energy supply. 

18
Mar
2024
Monday 18 March 2024
from 11:00 to 12:30 - Videoconferences

Germany managed to overcome the brutal energy decoupling from Russia, and the energy price crises, and greenhouse gas emissions are in decrease. Europe’s largest economy now needs to cope with the Constitutional court budget spending limitations, internal coalition struggles, competitiveness...

01
Feb
2024
Thursday 01 February 2024
from 08:30 to 11:00 - External Events

The European Union's energy transition has historically never been so advanced, yet never so vulnerable. Over the last four years, the European Union (EU) has experienced significant growth in renewable energy capacities, Electric Vehicle (EV), and heat pump adoption. Progress has...

21
Sep
2023
Thursday 21 September 2023
from 09:00 to 10:30 - Videoconferences

The United States of America has deployed the powerful tool of the Inflation Reduction Act to stimulate decarbonization investments, support all low carbon technologies and prioritize homemade technological leadership. 

13
Feb
2023
Monday 13 February 2023
from 11:30 to 13:00 - Videoconferences

At COP15 on Biodiversity in Montreal last month, a historical deal was reached, which includes the goal of protecting 30% of the world’s land and water ecosystems, mobilizing USD 200 billion, and moving away from environmentally harmful investments.

14
Mar
2022
Monday 14 March 2022
from 12:30 to 14:00 - Videoconferences

Russia’s war with Ukraine has multiple spillover effects on Europe’s energy systems which face multiple threats adding up to systemic weaknesses and challenges. 

20
Nov
2019
Wednesday 20 November 2019
from 17:15 to 19:15 - External Events

The annual World Energy Outlook is the International Energy Agency’s flagship publication, used as a reference by both governments and the energy industry. This year’s edition updates the outlooks for all fuels, technologies and regions, based on the latest market data, policy initiatives and...

12
Jun
2019
Wednesday 12 June 2019
from 09:00 to 10:30 - Seminars and Round-table Conferences

Egypt has been undertaking bold and comprehensive reforms of its energy sector: liberalization and progressive removal of fossil fuel subsidies, alongside a deployment of renewable energy sources. At the same time, super large gas discoveries and rapid and efficient investments have...

24
Apr
2019
Wednesday 24 April 2019
from 09:00 to 11:30 - Seminars and Round-table Conferences

2019 sets the stage for a reassessment of the role of natural gas in the European energy transition. The proposed coal phase out in Germany may foster its role in power generation. France has pledged to give biomethane a try while expecting a cost cut, and grid injection projects are booming...

27/07/2023
By: Marc-Antoine EYL-MAZZEGA, interviewed by Kamen Kraev for NUCNET

Argument that reactors are expensive "does not hold any more", conference hears. Nuclear plants will be needed for the future stability of Europe’s grid, Marc-Antoine Eyl-Mazzega said. 

22/06/2023

The recent energy crisis has highlighted our economies' dependence on energy resources. With fossil fuels becoming less available, and a necessary transition to more decarbonised alternatives, could tomorrow's energy not become more expensive and less certain in...

21/11/2022
By: Diana-Paula GHERASIM, interviewed by Rim Berahab via the organisation Policy Center for the New South

The European Green Deal (EGD) is the single most defining policy initiative of the Von der Leyen Commission. Since its publication in December 2019, it has become the European Union’s (EU) new raison d’être.

11/10/2022

Replay from Ifri's conference at the European Parliament in Brussels (October 11, 2022). The combination of the climate crisis and Russia’s war in Ukraine makes the case for a much faster transition to a fully decarbonized power system. 

 

30/03/2022
By: Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), makes 5 key recommendations for the future of French energy & climate policies to foster energy security and achieve climate objectives:

19/11/2020
By: Kevin TU, quoted by Bloomberg

Asia’s biggest economy wants to promote fuel cells for trucks. Renewable energy investments should make hydrogen less costly. Tesla Inc.Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has spent years mocking the idea of using hydrogen fuel cells rather than electric batteries to power next-generation green...

30/09/2019
By: Marc-Antoine EYL-MAZZEGA, quoted by Frédéric Simon in Euractiv

The prospects for biogas in Europe look bright, with conservative estimates pointing to a tenfold increase in production by 2030. However, the industry will need to stay rooted in the local economy and come clean on environmental credentials if it wants to avoid a green backlash, analysts say....