Daniel Scholten member of high-level Research Panel IRENA

Daniel Scholten will serve as a member of the interdisciplinary Research Panel that supports the Global Commission on the Geopolitics of Energy Transformation of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). He is considered an expert in the field, having pioneered the topic of the geopolitics of renewables over the last years, and will support the Commission via research inputs and analyses. Dr. Scholten will cooperate with scholars from Harvard, Columbia, NUPI, Colorado, Boston, and Berlin.

Future energy systems
For decades, the geopolitical analysis of energy issues has focused on conventional fuels such as oil and gas. The rise of renewables, combined with the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, mean the future energy system will be very different from that of today. In order to prepare for the new energy future, we need to understand how the transition to renewables will impact energy foreign policies of and energy relations between states. To develop a knowledge framework on these issues, the Global Commission on the Geopolitics of Energy Transformation has been established by IRENA at the request of Norway, Germany and the UAE.

About the Global Commission
The mission of the Global Commission on the Geopolitics of Energy Transformation is to achieve a better understanding of the geopolitical consequences of a large-scale shift to renewable energy, and to recommend how governments can better prepare for the global energy system of the future. The Commission is composed of global leaders on energy and security issues, selected on diverse geographical representation and expertise, and the Director-General of IRENA. The Commission was officially launched as an independent high-level initiative at the 8th session of IRENA’s Assembly, held in Abu Dhabi in January 2018. It is expected that the Commission will present its final Report to the next IRENA Assembly in January 2019.