Past Event
November 4, 2021
10:00 am - 11:00 am
State-owned power companies (SPCs) are major drivers of greenhouse gas emissions. SPCs emit over 6.2 GtCO2 per year, a figure which is more than any country other than China and constitutes nearly 45% of total global power sector emissions. At the same time, SPCs are large providers of low-carbon power alternatives. SPCs are particularly dominant in many emerging economies, such as China, India, Mexico and South Africa, and are also major producers in many OECD countries. As a consequence, the successful transition of the power sector to a low-carbon future, both at a global level and for many countries, will require engaging SPCs in low-carbon action.
In large part because of their government ownership structure, SPCs may operate under governance structures and incentives that are quite different from those facing their private investor-owned counterparts. Unfortunately, to date, SPCs and their specificities have largely been overlooked in the international climate discourse, with much of the focus on private investor-owned companies.
In order to improve the contribution of SPCs to the climate effort, and to raise the profile of how to engage these important players in the decarbonization effort, Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy hosted a panel on this topic.
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This event was organized with the support of the Growald Climate Fund.
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