Energy policy plays a crucial role in shaping the future of global energy systems. With rising energy demand, climate change and ongoing global geopolitical tensions, policymakers face the task of implementing policies that balance national objectives against global priorities, including energy security, affordability, diversification and decarbonisation.   

Effective policies are essential for ensuring a reliable and resilient energy supply, driving sustainable GDP growth and meeting ambitious mid-century climate targets. They are also critical in creating environments that enable technological innovation, new capital market investment and the deployment of lower carbon and clean energy solutions.  

To overcome barriers to success, such as, regulatory or market complications, investment requirements or operational complexities related to transitioning to a lower carbon energy system, a coordinated approach between governments, industry stakeholders and international investors is required. This includes establishing and expanding new cross-sector and cross-border partnerships.  

During this roundtable, ministers and policymakers will explore actionable strategies and policies to address global energy security while driving decarbonisation and sustainable economic growth. 

Natural gas demand is expected to rise by 34% by 2050, driven by rising global power requirements fuelled by GDP growth, rising populations and the continued development of the AI sector.  

As the energy mix becomes increasingly competitive, this growing demand highlights natural gas’s importance as a versatile and stabilising energy source. With vast global reserves and new supply coming online over the next decade, natural gas will remain crucial in ensuring steady supply, expanding energy access in emerging markets, stabilising grids, by mitigating renewable intermittency, and offering flexible, versatile applications for power generation.   

However, market uncertainty remains a paramount concern, with heightened geopolitical tensions, new administrations and policy shifts affecting supply and demand. In this continuously shifting energy landscape, roundtable attendees will discuss how the industry can collaborate to overcome market pressures and seize this growth opportunity to amplify natural gas’s role as a transformative and stabilising energy source. 

Europe aims to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The European Green Deal is central to this. It aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote sustainable economic growth and incentivise new investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency and clean technologies.  

Critical to Europe’s success is the realisation of a fair, cost-effective and competitive transition to a green economy, reinforcing the EU’s position as a global leader on climate action. Achieving these short- and longer-term goals will require coordinated efforts across policy, technology innovation and investment, as outlined by the 2024 Draghi Report on European competitiveness.  

However, Europe’s decarbonisation progress faces challenges. These include the economic viability of the renewable sector, global competition for critical minerals for clean energy innovation, changes in national leadership and administrations leading to inconsistent implementation of climate policies, and the lack of required investment which is estimated be as high as €260bn per year across the EU.  

Roundtable attendees will discuss how the coordinated and comprehensive approaches to addressing these challenges can ensure a smooth and equitable transition to a decarbonised economy for Europe. 

The continued surge in natural gas demand is being fuelled by the increase in AI sector growth, the transition from coal-to-gas and the need for resilient, lower-carbon energy systems. To meet this growing demand, it will be critical to bring online a new wave of diversified LNG supply, utilising the benefits of multi-region supply points to mitigate the risk of geopolitical disruptions and strengthen energy security for importing nations.  

The United States and Qatar remain pivotal to this expansion. As the world’s largest producer and exporter of natural gas, the US is projected to add around 100mtpa of LNG to the market by 2031. Similarly, Qatar’s natural gas production is set to double, reaching around 140mtpa by 2030, reinforcing its position as a leading exporter to both Asian and European markets. New volumes are also expected from Australia, Canada, UAE, Argentina and Nigeria as they continue to expand their capacities.  

However, this shift brings with it challenges, including the implementation of global tariffs, the potential for significant LNG oversupply post-2030, and competitive pricing pressures, all of which could affect the viability of future LNG project development. Roundtable attendees will discuss the opportunities and challenges that come with the new wave of diversified supply and its impact on global gas markets. 

The hydrogen market is experiencing modest growth, signalling careful optimism about its potential as a reliable, lower-carbon energy source. Blue hydrogen is expected to be the main driver of near-term growth in the hydrogen sector, with a projected capacity of 1.5mtpa expected to reach final investment decision in 2025 - ten times that of green hydrogen. Europe and the USA are leading in terms of production potential, with mega projects in Rotterdam and Louisiana setting new records for planned capacity.  

However, the classification of blue hydrogen as a “lower-carbon” energy source is disputed, with many arguing it lacks the necessary sustainability credentials to significantly accelerate the transition. Meanwhile, despite global ambitions to transition to a carbon-neutral hydrogen system, green hydrogen continues to face challenges, with cost of production remaining a barrier to wide-spread adoption.  

Until a robust green hydrogen system is implemented to overcome these challenges, and a value chain is established, support for the rapid expansion of blue hydrogen could build resilience and a strong foundation for the sector, meeting global demand for hydrogen-based products and positioning the sector to transition from “low” to zero-carbon when it reaches economy of scale.  

Roundtable attendees will discuss the benefits and challenges of utilising blue hydrogen to accelerate the growth of the hydrogen sector. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a game-changing tool for accelerating global climate innovation and unlocking new sustainability actions at unprecedented scale and pace.  

AI can be used effectively for energy optimisation and efficiency: its ability to forecast energy supply and demand with high accuracy allows energy providers to balance the grid more effectively, reduce intermittency and ensure a stable supply of electricity.  This predictive analysis is also expected to be critical in identifying optimal times to introduce new renewable energy onto the grid.  

AI also has the significant potential to reduce global methane leaks and emissions. AI-powered detection and monitoring tools can use satellite data to identify emissions in real time and optimise gas asset operations with predictive maintenance.  

Despite its clear potential, the widespread adoption of AI faces significant challenges. The high cost of implementation is a barrier for developing countries or small enterprises and AI systems are power-hungry, raising concerns around their true contribution to a net zero future. Furthermore, the integration of AI across the energy sector will require a new workforce to fill the digital skills gaps needed to power a transforming global economy.  

Roundtable attendees will discuss how AI can be leveraged across emission reduction strategies, projects and policies to deliver an accelerated energy transition.