Insight - Who will pay for the energy transition?

Power trend: A service vessel sailing among turbine towers at an offshore wind farm in waters off Gochang in South Korea. The proposed transition would replace gasoline-fuelled private cars by battery-driven vehicles charged by wind power. ─ AFP

THE transition from a fossil-fuel dominated energy system to one with zero emissions would require trillions of dollars of investment in new production, distribution and consumption equipment worldwide.

New investments could support millions of new jobs in construction and manufacturing, but policymakers are struggling to decide whether to recover the costs from consumers or taxpayers.