Sechin debunked myths about the "green transition"

Calls to abandon fossil fuels, citing the anthropogenic factor's impact on the climate, are not justified, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin said, delivering a keynote speech at the Special Session of the XVII Verona Eurasian Economic Forum.

Sechin recalled that the last ice age, also called the Little Ice Age, ended less than 200 years ago and the current warming period is part of a natural natural cycle. "The average contribution of anthropogenic impact on the climate is a tenth of the influence of the Earth's natural thermoregulation mechanisms," the oil company head emphasized.

According to him, "analysis of the impact of such mechanisms shows that a 50% increase in the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere compared to the pre-industrial period can be the cause of an increase in the average temperature by only 0.15 degrees Celsius."

Sechin also noted that the energy transition will require restructuring of the real, not virtual, economy - infrastructure, technologies, supply chains. In this regard, the Rosneft head reminded that to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement by 2050, it is necessary to increase the capacity of low-carbon power generation 10 times to 35 TW, which is more than four times the total installed capacity of the global energy system. To achieve this, the power sector will need more than $70 trillion in investment.

The CEO added that, for example, to meet the Paris Agreement's carbon targets, it would be necessary to reduce emissions from the electric vehicle production chain by 81% by 2032, which is "simply impossible." He said that the emissions from the production of an electric car are 35-50% higher than those of a car with an internal combustion engine. In addition, it should not be forgotten that the use of electric cars in countries whose energy systems rely heavily on fossil fuels will reduce emissions only if the mileage of an electric car is very high, Sechin explained.

He believes that buyers in the West have become disillusioned with electric cars and the boom for this form of transportation is coming to an end. "Due to lack of demand, leading manufacturers are forced to sell at a loss to themselves, and in the US the price of a used electric car has fallen by 25% in less than two years," Sechin said. One of the reasons for the decline in demand is that the creation of additional generation, networks and charging infrastructure is not synchronized with the electrification of the vehicle fleet, which has turned into a "headache for electric car owners," the oil company executive said.