The Essential Energy Transition - Energy and Climate: How to Achieve a Successful Energy Transition - page 42

Making the transition
Faced with these adaptation difficulties, the risks of climate change will
call for large-scale measures to be taken rapidly in order to reduce CO 2
emissions.
It is therefore necessary and urgent to speed up the transitionmovement
with respect to the trend currently accepted by most observers. In addi-
tion, changing only the structure of the primary energy supply (also
known as the 'energy mix') will not be sufficient to ensure a satisfactory
transition. It must be combined with other means, described below, such
as improved energy efficiency and geological storage of CO 2 .
A long-term change is also required, which comprises the steps neces-
sary to eventually produce a more sustainable system, while avoiding
situations which would be unacceptable for the economy or the
environment.
This will involve considerable changes. The trend observed in the years
to come will be decisive for the future. Depending on the decisions taken,
the energy transition could succeed and tend towards a sustainable
equilibrium or, on the contrary, fail and lead to a crisis accompanied by
major conflicts [24].
Numerous examples from the past show that societies which were
unable to adapt to a change in their environment, especially depletion of
resources, have collapsed suddenly. Some authors already consider that
our society could suffer the same fate [25, 26].
This prediction is all the more worrying since, due to globalisation of
the economy, such a collapse would not concern a single country or
region, but the entire planet.
The step to be taken is therefore extremely critical, since events could
accelerate and the risk of catastrophe is not excluded. An action planmust
be implemented as a matter of urgency; the effort to be made will extend
over a long period of time, until the threats have been removed. The
transition must be initiated in the richest countries, which will be
followed, with an inevitable delay, by the developing countries.
The need to innovate
A great deal of creativity and innovation will be required at all levels to
implement the right solutions on a large scale over the coming years. All
the solutions currently available must be implemented without delay,
while at the same time developing those for tomorrow.