In 2015 something unusual happened. Science and politics stopped quibbling and rallied around the single most important issue facing homo sapiens in this millennium: Climate Change. At that point in time almost 200 countries agreed to unite in cutting global greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 under the Paris Climate Agreement. However, figures released by the International Energy Agency show that in 2017 carbon emissions reached a historic high, increasing by 1.4 per cent to 32.5 giga-tonnes.

So what happened? To begin with the political climate has changed considerably since the agreement was signed. For a short time it seemed that the world’s leaders were united in the movement towards lower greenhouse emissions. Industry had found its climate legs with most listed corporations responding to shareholder pressure and adopting their HSSE programs to include a yearly audit of their carbon footprint and goals for reduction. However, in the face of all this progress on paper, little material impact has been recorded and many world leaders seem reluctant to stand firmly behind a green future and push. Perhaps we are also wrestling with something very basic, in the form of a social contract many people have with their government on Energy. In addition to the fundamentals enshrined in charters and covenants on safety, security, freedom from persecution and discrimination, access to food, water and shelter, there seems to be an unwritten guarantee of access to bountiful cheap sources of energy?

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