The World Energy Council’s Vision to Humanise the Global Energy Transition

About the Speech:

This is the fourth presentation of the 2021 lecture series Rethink Energy: Countdown to COP26, which is co-organised by the IIEA and ESB. On this occasion,
Dr Wilkinson, Secretary General of the World Energy Council, highlights the Council’s new agenda for action to reach the global imperative of energy neutrality, in a context of affordability and social justice. She outlines that customer-centred solutions, broader innovation, and more inclusive cooperation will be essential tools to reconnect people with the planet. Dr Wilkinson also argues that the pandemic has exposed significant gaps in access to quality energy across the world. She proposes that policymakers focus on making better use of all available technologies to accelerate the clean transition, while recognising that there is ‘no one size fits all’ approach and that countries, companies and communities can learn with, and from, each other.

About the Speaker:

Dr Angela Wilkinson is Secretary General of the World Energy Council. She is one of the world’s leading global energy futures experts, a distinguished Oxford scholar and a published author. Dr Wilkinson has 30 years of experience in leading national, international, and global multi-stakeholder transformation initiatives on a wide range of economic, energy, climate and sustainable development related challenges. She was appointed Secretary General and CEO of the World Energy Council in 2019. Dr Wilkinson joined the Council in 2017 to create a ‘practical energy transition toolkit’ for leaders and to direct a new strategic insights programme. Prior to this, Dr Wilkinson worked at the OECD, Royal Dutch Shell, and British Gas plc. She has a PhD in physics, a Fellow of the World Academy of Arts and Science, and has published four books and numerous articles.