Sustainable Recovery: Post-Pandemic Transitioning

Abstract

The world’s recovery from the pandemic is still fragile. Progress has been made in global vaccinations with 7.3 billion doses administrated by early November (51% of the world’s population having received at least one dose of vaccine). However, there is a huge disparity between countries such as the UAE, which is leading with more than 98% of its population vaccinated, compared to some African countries with less than 2% coverage. We are also seeing the emergence of a fifth wave of COVID-19 cases in the Northern Hemisphere, possibly because of the loosening of protection requirements. On the positive side, people’s mobility patterns have nearly recovered for land transportation. The International Air Transport Association, which monitors airline activity, noted a surge in travel bookings for the second half of 2022. This is a welcome relief for the airline industry, which has seen its worst crisis in more than 60 years, and recovery could be occurring before the anticipated time frame of 2025. The ability to travel safely is a critical requirement for SPE’s larger in-person events. The 2021 Annual Technology Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) held in Dubai a few weeks ago was excellent. ATCE sessions remain available on demand, so please check some very engaging discussions/presentations. We held a handful of hybrid events in November, including a large ADIPEC in Abu Dhabi and the first SPE Eastern Europe Subsurface Conference in Kyiv, Ukraine. Congratulations to the new Kyiv section that opened last month—great work by the volunteers, the supporting organizations, and the SPE support staff. The number of events will be increasing over the coming months, in particular the in-person part of Offshore Europe in February 2022 (the virtual conference was held in September 2021). We also held the SPE YP Congress in November (congratulations to the Young Member Engagement Committee and the volunteers). The event attracted many YPs and students from around the world to brainstorm via “ideathon” teams about innovative solutions to make the energy industry more sustainable. I was invited to the COP26 in Glasgow last month and had the opportunity to discuss critical aspects of the energy transition. As demonstrated by the IPCC Assessment Report 6, WG1, published in August, there are very concerning trends about the evolution of mean surface temperatures. The COP21 meeting in Paris in 2015 raised the level of ambition for action to safeguard our planet, but the Accord left some undefined clauses such as Article 6, which “aims at promoting integrated, holistic, and balanced approaches that will assist governments in implementing their National Determined Contributions through voluntary international cooperation.” A properly designated cooperation mechanism would establish a policy foundation for a global emission trading system.