Managing the Transition to a Secure, Low-Carbon Energy Future

February 4, 2008

In the years to come, the world must meet the energy needs of a growing and developing world population while mitigating the impacts of global climate change. This policy brief seeks to establish a framework for considering the complex and evolving links between energy security and climate change, and identifies three challenges:

    • the evolving and interconnected nature of energy security
      and climate change definitions and goals,
    • the variables that contribute to an uncertain future, and
    • the trade-offs and unintended consequences involved in addressing both issues.

A workable strategy must be concerned not just with how to design a future in which climate change and energy security concerns are met, but also with the pathway to get there. To guide this transition, this brief offers several guiding principles for devising energy and climate policies that are both effective and politically viable.