OpeOluwani Akintayo
Lagos — TotalEnergies has called on stakeholders in the oil and gas sector to address concerns over their contributions to climate change owing to the damages it causes to public health.
In a Goodwill message at the ongoing Nigeria Annual International Conference & Exhibition, NAICE held in Lagos on Monday, Managing Director Total E&P Nigeria Limited, Mike Sangster said the relationship between climate change and public health is clear enough for the sector to address the concerns over how its activities contribute to worsening the situation.
According to Sangster, solving the challenges means the sector would need to embrace energy transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energies.
“The production and use of energy contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, meeting the climate challenge will mean embarking on energy transition, i.e. transforming the way we produce and use energy.
“TotalEnergies believes that climate change is a reality and requires the collective mobilisation of society. The 2015 Paris Agreement generated a groundswell of awareness of the climate emergency. Five years later, the target recommended by the experts is a carbon-neutral society by 2050. This is a demanding goal that we must all, collectively, commit to”, he said.
Since 2015, TotalEnergies has steered a determined course to new energies, in line with its ambition to provide energy that is reliable, affordable, and clean.
Sangster said the future of energy is changing and, if the sector must remain relevant in the energy market of the future, then it must continue to adapt.
“Together with society, we are adapting to a world-class player in the energy transition with a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050”.
The global energy brand, then declared 2020-2030 a decade of change for the company as it continues transitioning into a broad energy company.
“The decade 2020-2030 will be a decade of change for TotalEnergies as it becomes a broad energy company”.
According to him, the company’s production and sales mix will change significantly by 2030: 50% gas; 35% oil and liquid biofuels; 15% electricity, mostly renewable.
And by 2050, the mix grow to become 40% renewable power, 40% gas and 20% liquid products.
“The third leg of the trilogy is global oil market innovation which I believe will fuel the engine of the energy transition. We are a service industry which must adopt the principles of strategic customer relationship management in meeting the energy needs of our world sustainably. There is no other industry better positioned than ours to lead the crusade to clean energy and carbon neutrality. We have the technology; we have the capability; we have the people and the balance sheet. We must use all these to achieve the market innovation which strikes a balance between meeting the energy needs of a growing world population and meeting same in a sustainable, carbon-neutral manner”.
Total has been in Africa for more than 80 years and has been involved in activities in Nigeria for 65 years with a broad and diversified portfolio- upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry. The company’s activities span onshore, conventional offshore, deep water, LNG and in the downstream with over 577 service stations across the nation.
With this year’s conference themed: The Future of Energy: A Trilogy of Determinants; Climate Change, Public Health, and the Global Oil Market Innovation, Sangster said is quite timely and relevant.
“The COVID-19 pandemic which hit the world in 2020 has redefined a lot of parameters as we have always known them. For instance, the pandemic has proved that our people could work remotely and still achieve set targets. The pandemic has also exposed the fragility of the public health infrastructure of countries all over the world especially countries like Nigeria which had not been making adequate investments in the health sector”, he said.
In conclusion, Sangster commended the SPE for the resilience and innovativeness which it has demonstrated since the pandemic.
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