Davos was set up as a forum to discuss, and ideally, reach consensus on the key challenges facing the economy and society.
This year the meeting in the Alpine retreat was hijacked by US president Donald Trump’s claims to Greenland. Climate change, which is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity, was relegated to a minor subplot and Trump again criticised Europe’s wind energy investments.
EU leaders would do well to ignore the US president in this area. Europe needs to decarbonise and to reduce its energy reliance on the US. Following the Ukraine war, the EU replaced Russian gas supplies with LNG from the US. On current trends, the US will supply 40 per cent of EU gas demand by the end of this decade. This dependency gives President Trump significant leverage.
That is why this week’s meeting of energy ministers from Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK in Hamburg on Monday was significant. The nine countries agreed to develop the North Sea region into Europe’s “green power plant” by supporting private sector investment in wind energy. The objective is to produce 300GW of wind energy by 2050, reducing the EU’s dependence on imported energy and sharply cutting CO2 emissions.
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To put this in context, it would be the equivalent of up to 120 nuclear reactors and would be enough to supply up to 200 million homes across Europe. Through the Celtic Interconnector, which will connect Ireland to the mainland EU market from 2028, Ireland has the potential to become a net exporter of clean energy.
The North Sea project is a prime example of how co-operation among European countries can have lasting and practical benefits for their citizens. But turning this into reality requires years of determined work. Ireland has succeeded in boosting the share of renewables in the energy mix, but it has fallen behind in its delivery of offshore wind, If the State is to share in the potential here, it needs to up its game in terms of delivery.
