Forbes Piece: Angela Wilkinson: A Voice Of Reason In The Energy And Climate Discussion

[Note: This story was previously published at Forbes.com]

Dr. Angela Wilkinson, Secretary General of the World Energy Council.

WORLD ENERGY COUNCIL

Angela Wilkinson: A Voice Of Reason In The Energy And Climate Discussion

The World Energy Council (WEC) has existed now for a century, having been founded in 1923 by a visionary named Daniel Dunlop, who foresaw the need for a global organization whose mission is to convene stakeholders to discuss and find ways to resolve problems in the energy space. Never in its history has this non-commercial, non-governmental body been faced with such a broad array of complex, pressing problems as it is today, with the global community embarked upon an ambitious energy transition.

I was fortunate this week to be able to interview Dr. Angela Wilkinson, the sixth secretary general in the WEC’s history, as she prepared to attend next week’s CERA Week event in Houston. I found her in an upbeat mood as she prepared to fly across the pond – her office is in London – for that conference, while also looking ahead to the COP 28 conference later this year in the United Arab Emirates.

“The world is not on track.”

Our interview began with a request for Dr. Wilkinson to provide her general assessment of the pace of this ‘energy transition’ that at least the western world is embarked upon, though much of the rest of the world has yet to come on board. She was frank in her admission that the pace of change is well behind what would need to happen for the world to achieve the net-zero goals laid out in the Paris Accords.

“There’s this global stock-take that will be done by the COP 28 presidency this year and it will show the world is not on track. We don't need to wait for an assessment to know that,” she says.