For several years, public and private announcements and investments associated with the energy transition have been multiplying. By 2023, $1,800 billion had been invested worldwide in low-carbon technologies (wind, solar, batteries and hydrogen), a new record and almost double the amount invested in fossil fuels. Year on year, the deployment of renewable energies is accelerating, and electric vehicles are increasing their market share in most corners of the globe. So much so, in fact, that the International Energy Agency predicts a peak in fossil fuel demand within the decade. Yet at the same time, concerns are emerging about our ability to deploy the technologies needed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, in sufficient quantity and on time. The main concern centers on the availability of metals, on which the manufacture of low-carbon technologies is particularly dependent. Some argue that the advent of a carbon-neutral energy system is compromised by a lack of metal resources. The aim of this conference is to determine to what extent the availability of metals for the energy transition is or is not an obstacle to achieving our climate objectives.

For several years now, public and private announcements and investments associated with the energy transition have been multiplying. By 2023, $1,800 billion had been invested worldwide in low-carbon technologies (wind, solar, batteries and hydrogen), a new record and almost double the amount invested in fossil fuels. Year on year, the deployment of renewable energies is accelerating, and electric vehicles are increasing their market share in most corners of the globe. So much so, in fact, that the International Energy Agency predicts a peak in fossil fuel demand within the decade. Yet, at the same time, concerns are emerging about our ability to successfully complete the energy transition and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. One of the main concerns focuses on metals, on which the manufacture of low-carbon technologies is particularly dependent. Against this backdrop, growing critics claim, for example, that a lack of geological availability of metals would jeopardize the energy transition, that increasing their extraction for the energy transition would be more damaging to the climate than the fossil status quo, or that the energy transition would simply be materially unsustainable. Based on scientific literature and analyses by specialist organizations, Alex Bigouret explores the extent to which metals are or are not an obstacle to achieving our climate goals.

By replacing fossil fuels with low-carbon technologies, the energy transition will have a definite impact on jobs - starting with those in the fossil fuel, automotive and other industrial sectors. The change of energy system implies the development of new skills and qualifications, the creation of new jobs, but also the disappearance of a certain number of them, incompatible with our climate objectives. To best support these changes in the workplace and facilitate public support for climate policies, it will also be imperative to democratize access to the socio-economic benefits of the transition through greater social justice. Drawing on scientific literature and the analyses of specialist organizations, Alex Bigouret explores the extent to which employment will be redefined by the energy transition, and what opportunities companies and workers can derive from it.