Within the Energy Transition

AAction Lecture Series 2021-2022 : Who’s counting?

'If the Environment Were a Bank, It Would Have Already Been Bailed Out'* Bernie Sanders

Financial models, economic plans and insurance allows accelerated processes and the political geometry of extraction and movement to operate to the detriment of the planet. Yet economic collapse correlates with the ongoing transformation processes as a result of climate change. If we are to negotiate and take planetary action, we must understand that we are suspended within economic structures that both fund and risk manage on behalf of individuals and corporations. We need a shift in perspective. How do we alter technological systems toward a more planetary condition? Can we estrange insurance from its colonial pathways? How do we re-value technology? How do our choices and involvement bail out the planet?

How do you change the system from within?

Vitol’s vision for the energy transition is simple and clear— embracing change whilst simultaneously remaining true to their core values. The real difficulty for the transition is a question of how to achieve systemic change whilst operating as the largest global energy trader. Vitol’s head of investment, Javed Ahmed will share how Vitol envisions, contributes and impacts energy transition, including a reimagining of its internal and external logistics.

This conversation will enable a multi-disciplinary dialogue between actors in various disciplines and stakeholders, including business and architecture. Vitol has invested in numerous projects, including the Humber Zero (Carbon Capture Project), Bio-digesters in the United States, Wind Farms, EV infrastructure in China with BYD as well as electric mobility business in India.

Vitol is at the heart of the world's energy trade flows. For over 50 years Vitol has served the world’s energy markets, trading over eight million barrels of crude oil and products a day and delivering energy products to countries worldwide. Their customers include national oil companies, multinationals, leading industrial and chemical companies and the world’s largest airlines. Javed is head of investment at Vitol working on many types of projects working towards various changes within the company.