If we are to fend off the worst effects of climate change, the world faces an urgent need for bold policies, regional cooperation and accelerated innovation to speed up decarbonisation efforts. That was the message from Remi Eriksen, Group President and CEO of DNV Group, in a recent thought-provoking public lecture at CDE.
Organised as part of the Seatrium Public Lecture series, Mr Eriksen’s lecture, What does the long-term energy future hold?, held on 12 November, emphasised that while the landmark stage of peak global emissions is imminent, the current trajectory is insufficient to achieve the goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
“I believe we have the technology needed for a smart and efficient future,” he said. “What we miss is a smart and bold policy that unlocks this potential.”
The lecture series is held under the Seatrium Professorship Gift Agreement, signed in 2023 between CDE, NUS and Seatrium, with the aim of opening up opportunities for collaboration between industry and academia.
In his welcome address to a full house audience ahead of the lecture, Professor Teo Kie Leong, Dean of CDE, noted that NUS was committed to “addressing sustainability and climate change issues, partnering with industry and other stakeholders to shape a green future for all.” He pointed in particular to a collaboration between the Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine Singapore (TCOMS), the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Seatrium to develop next generation Marine & Offshore (M&O) Engineering solutions.
‘Important moment’
In the first half of his lecture, Mr Eriksen presented insights from the 2024 edition of DNV’s Energy Transition Outlook (ETO), an annual analysis that he stressed was “a forecast, not a scenario, of how the energy system in 10 regions and for the world in total will change through to 2050.”
Presenting data from the report, Mr Eriksen said that whilst global emissions from energy production and use are projected to reach a peak within the coming year, progress in cutting emissions and decarbonising global energy is not fast enough to avoid severe climate impacts.
“Peak emissions is an important moment in humanity's relationship to energy and the planet we inhabit,” he told the audience. However, he added soberingly that despite this milestone point, the goal of achieving net-zero by 2050 “appears increasingly out of reach.”
Unless urgent and dramatic action is taken, he told the audience, the world is likely headed towards a 2.2C temperature rise by the end of the century – well above the 1.5C target in the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
Mr Eriksen attributed the world reaching the point of peak emissions to accelerated use of clean energy technologies, including rapid advancements in battery storage and solar power. Global solar installations, for instance, surged by 80% in 2023, reaching 400 gigawatts of new capacity.
“One of the reasons solar is gaining ground so fast is because battery prices are plunging, making 24-hour solar plus storage more accessible,” he said. China’s significant strides, where over half of all EV sales and renewable installations took place last year, have also played a central role in emissions reduction, Mr Eriksen added.
Obstacles to progress
Yet despite these advances, Mr Eriksen identified several obstacles impeding progress and holding back the potential pace . Offshore wind and green hydrogen projects, both crucial to decarbonisation, face challenges due to supply chain issues and financing obstacles. Furthermore, the world is yet to see the scale needed in carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen technologies – areas he described as being “at the more expensive end of the transition” to sustainable energy
“Several of the first commercial hydrogen energy projects that have been trying to get off the ground have stalled due to cost overruns, and in some cases have been abandoned due to market uptake uncertainty,” he said.
A major focus of Mr Eriksen’s lecture was Southeast Asia, where nine out of the 10 ASEAN nations have committed to net-zero targets but face hurdles in achieving them. He pointed to fossil fuel dependency, financial constraints and limited technical capacity as key factors impeding the region’s transition to cleaner energy.
According to Mr Eriksen, Southeast Asia’s untapped potential for renewable power, especially solar and wind, could transform the energy landscape, but realising this potential will require enhanced cooperation. He highlighted a recent study by DNV advocating for cross-border electricity interconnectors across ASEAN, a move he said could be a game-changer for reducing costs and resource needs, drawing potential savings of US$800 billion.
Maritime decarbonisation
Turning his attention to decarbonisation efforts in the maritime industry, Mr Eriksen pointed to the unique challenges of this hard-to-electrify sector, where advanced biofuels and green hydrogen from ammonia remain in developmental stages. Maritime decarbonisation strategies, he suggested, should focus on efficiency improvements, green shipping corridors, and emerging carbon capture corridors. These “carbon capture corridors” would allow for large-scale CO2 capture at specific maritime routes, helping to mitigate emissions in heavily trafficked waters.
Beyond these regional and sector-specific recommendations, Mr Eriksen also underscored the potential of digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) in driving decarbonisation across industries. However, despite booming interest and investment in AI, he said it was not a panacea for the world’s energy challenges.
"AI alone cannot deliver the energy transition, but it can certainly accelerate the journey by improving efficiency, navigating complexity, and enhancing people," he said, adding that stringent regulatory frameworks are essential to ensure the technology’s ethical use.
Mr Eriksen, who has led DNV since 2015 and has extensive experience across maritime, oil, gas, and renewables sectors worldwide, concluded by calling for stronger policies to unlock the potential of these technologies.
