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New Energy World magazine logo
New Energy World magazine logo
ISSN 2753-7757 (Online)

Global geopolitics hot spot: Why concern about the pace of energy transition remains a key issue at Davos

19/2/2025

10 min read

Feature

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, standing behind lectern on stage, with World Economic Forum logos on large blue screen behind Photo: World Economic Forum/Boris Bal
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, gave a special address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, focused on the energy transition

Photo: World Economic Forum/Boris Bal

Grappling with intensifying environmental crises, the gathering at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month made an urgent call for systemic transformation and a surge in climate and nature-related investments. New Energy World Features Editor Brian Davis reports.

US President Donald Trump’s video address at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, in January drew some moans and smiles, reported the Associated Press. Executive orders signed upon starting his second term in office a few days earlier included withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords, reversing President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, and stressing his administration’s preference to expand US oil drilling and what he called ‘good clean coal’.

 

‘The United States has the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we’re going to use it,’ beamed Trump. What’s more, he warned European leaders and top business executives that NATO allies should not expect to be immune from US tariffs. In his typical manner, Trump said: ‘I’m trying to be constructive because I love the countries of Europe… But the processes are very cumbersome, and they do treat the United States of America very unfairly… with the bad taxes they impose.’

 

So, where does Europe stand when it comes to the energy transition?

 

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