Energy Transition Task Force

About the Task Force

Leaders from a number of the largest and most influential energy companies have come together to form an Energy Transition Task Force as part of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, to drive progress as a group and accelerate the transition to a resilient, prosperous, low carbon, and sustainable energy future – guided by the relevant aims of the UN SDGs and the Terra Carta.

The Energy Transition Task Force has committed to supporting the energy transition by mobilising capital toward decarbonising and green activities: reducing the carbon intensity of traditional energy and scaling the development of renewable generation, and by supporting customers with innovative products and services that encourage and enable sustainable choices.

Public-Private Sector Collaboration Vital For Unlocking Renewable Energy Development In Sub-Saharan Africa: New Report From The Sustainable Markets Initiative Energy Transition Task Force

Electricity grids are a vital part of the world’s energy infrastructure, and like most infrastructure in a rapidly changing energy landscape, they need to be adapted for a different energy future. Modernising and decentralising the grid will be critical to better integrate renewable energy generation and enable a more just distribution of resources. The scale of transformation cannot be overstated.   

 In Africa and the wider Global South, where access to energy remains a pervasive challenge, the shift to cleaner energy represents an opportunity to accelerate electrification, reduce the cost of energy, and supercharge national and local economies.   

As a diverse continent with a young, ambitious population - 70% of the population is under the age of 30 - Africa is uniquely placed to take advantage of emerging clean technologies. Access to clean energy can have a significant positive impact on economic opportunities, jobs and education for Africa’s people.   

 A new report from the Energy Transition Task Force highlights the profound potential that investments in electricity grid networks hold for sub-Saharan Africa and offers a strategic blueprint for government and private sector engagement in electric grid development, particularly as transmission projects grow more attractive for investment.  

Click here to read the report

Click here to read the full press release

November 2023 – Launch of Decarbonisation How-To Guide

With steel , aluminium, and mining collectively contributing to around 12% of global carbon dioxide emissions, business leaders in these carbon-intense industries are faced with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to innovate and collectively shape the transition to a more sustainable future. 

Heavy industry faces a unique challenge as they strive to reduce emissions while demand for products — many fundamental to the global green transformation itself — continues to rise. 

The pace of transformation in hard-to-abate industries must accelerate to meet net zero by 2050. However, decarbonising these industries comes with numerous challenges — from securing access to renewable energy at scale and competitive cost to navigating evolving regulatory frameworks.   

To help these industries progress their journey towards net zero, the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Energy Transition Task Force has launched a new guide that highlights pathways and options for decarbonising hard-to-abate industries. The guide emphasises the critical role of all sectors in the global economy for successful decarbonisation and exemplifies the strong positive impact that cross-industry cooperation can have. 

Sources: IEA (2023), Net Zero Roadmap: A Global Pathway to Keep the
1.5 °C Goal in Reach, IEA, Paris License: CC BY 4.0, Oliver Wyman analysis

Click here to read the guide

Framework for transitioning companies to accelerate global progress to net zero

The Sustainable Markets Initiative's Energy Transition Task Force has published a transition framework in support of global progress towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions by recognising the activities and impact of companies reducing and removing emissions, as well as those accelerating the development of low carbon solutions at scale.

To achieve this at pace and scale, the world’s attention needs to go to where the emissions are. This means recognising the need to engage and transition producers and consumers of energy – including those who are not ‘green’ today – to deploy their resources, capabilities, and capital to help accelerate global progress towards this goal.

Despite growing momentum for net zero ambitions from countries, regions, and corporates in recent years, there remains a notable gap in the available tools to enable investment in transitioning companies delivering progress.

It is this gap the Sustainable Markets Initiative seeks to address – by providing a framework, with underpinning principles, to help stakeholders to identify, assess, rank, and track companies driving the transition.

Read the full report here

Putting Customers at the Heart of the Energy Transition

Energy companies, large businesses and the finance sector have an opportunity, both individually and by working together, to make the transition attractive, easy and affordable for all customers from energy intensive businesses to domestic customers currently living on and off grid.  

The Energy Transition Task Force's recent report highlights the importance of putting customers at the heart of the energy transition.

The report highlights the significant impact that large businesses can have through their energy purchasing, through the support they provide to their supply chain to decarbonise and through their wider influence. It looks at how energy companies can make it easier for customers to do things that benefit the whole energy system. It also touches on how the finance sector has a role to play in providing funding at different scales and with different risk profiles to meet the needs of customers large and small across the globe.

Read the full report here

Accompanying this report, the annex contains additional resources, tools, and information about how large businesses and energy companies specifically can put customers at the heart of the energy transition.

Accelerating the Pace of Renewable Energy Deployment

Within the Sustainable Markets Initiative's Energy Transition Taskforce, a Pace work stream was initiated to identify ways in which the pace of deployment of renewable and low-carbon energy projects could be accelerated. The focus of the work stream was on how to scale up the deployment of three main renewable energy sources: offshore wind, onshore wind, and solar.

It identified three cornerstones needed for an effective renewable energy strategy in mind: Regulatory Best Practices, Enabling Grid (transmission and interconnection), and Enabling Environment. The acceleration of pace needed requires a step change in these three areas and it needs to be properly thought through, resourced upfront, and executed in a just manner.

In their latest report, "How to accelerate the pace of renewable energy deployment," Pace identified key guiding principles that countries can apply across their projects, geographies, environments, political regimes, and economic markets to help accelerate renewable deployment.

The principles were framed to be applicable in as many situations as possible so that they can be used in a wide variety of projects and locations, with the understanding that every country faces different challenges. These guiding principles can help governments, private and public sector organisations, and other stakeholders identify ways to avoid unnecessary delays, reduce risk, and accelerate the pace of deployment. We are not yet out of time to meet our net-zero targets, but to do so the global community must deploy clean affordable renewable energy at greater speed and scale across all parts of the world.

We hope that this report helps highlight some of the guiding principles required to help the global energy sector increase the pace of this transition.

Read the full report here

Energy Customer Transition Video

The Energy Customer Transition working group aims to build positive momentum towards a customer-centric (and just) energy transition that helps people and businesses across the globe benefit from more affordable, green energy and play a part in achieving net zero.

The focus is expansive, looking globally from customers who have limited or no access to electricity, to well-served households connected to a grid, to businesses of all sizes from large industrial and commercial energy users to small and medium enterprises.

The task force will be highlighting the actions that energy companies, investors and large corporations in particular can take to bring about a customer centric transition. The video below is the first step in building interest and momentum towards this goal.

Membership composition

The Energy Transition Task Force company members are drawn from across the global energy industry, including:

Further information

For Task Force enquiries please contact:

Email: info@sustainable-markets.org