In his letter responding to the opinion piece by Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (“Industry ignores the stark realities of climate change”, Letters, March 27), Robin Russell-Jones blames fossil fuel companies that keep developing new resources for the expected future rise in global temperatures.
But this is to criticise the supply of hydrocarbons. Surely the problem — and the solution — lies with demand?
If governments can accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and shift heating from the use of natural gas to renewably-generated electricity, then demand for oil, coal and gas will inevitably fall.
In that case, new supplies will be redundant, and as organisations like Carbon Tracker have pointed out, fossil fuel companies that overinvested in new supplies will face financial losses and eventual bankruptcy — unless they invest in non-fossil energy, which would be better for everyone.
Meanwhile, any extra supply will marginally reduce the price of fossil fuels, all else being equal, but that will make little difference to the long-term path of demand, if the right policies are in place.
Curbing supply will, by the same argument, raise oil and gas prices, which might speed up decarbonisation, but only if there are supporting policies in place — and as we’ve recently seen, it’s unpopular.
Those who dislike the oil and gas companies, rather than demonising them, should instead focus on cutting demand for their products. If demand falls, then supply will take care of itself.
Simon Taylor
Management Practice Professor of Finance
Judge Business School,
University of Cambridge,
Cambridgeshire, UK
