By Sarah Howell, Vice President, Gastech
Energy companies are no strangers to skepticism about their role in delivering a carbon neutral energy mix. As countries accelerate their climate plans, the gas sector has faced pressure from regulators and activist investors to clearly articulate its role as an enabler of society-wide net-zero ambitions.
In response, industry leaders have made the case – with increasing success – for the sector’s value proposition in a rapidly evolving energy landscape. This is both in terms of European energy security and as a bridging fuel for meeting emissions reduction objectives both in the West and the Global South.
Their audience, however, extends far beyond investors and policymakers involved in providing financing and regulatory support for new projects. Increasingly, companies recognise their own employees and prospective talent pool as key stakeholders in this conversation.
In a recent article for the FT, Margaret Heffernan argued that the enduring “stigma” associated with the oil and gas sector is causing real difficulties for companies’ ability to attract and retain talent. Her argument follows that negative perceptions of the industry, as a hindrance to energy transition rather than part of the solution, are dissuading newcomers from pursuing a career in the sector. Just as worryingly, long-time employees with highly specialised skills may be persuaded to switch to competing companies in the renewables sector, an industry that may be seen to better align with their values.
The gas sector must take this challenge seriously. A talent drain risks seriously harming the industry’s ability to innovate and transform itself during the energy transition. Both within companies and among future leaders, gas companies must demonstrate to talented individuals that they are part of a dynamic, diverse, technology-led industry making a positive and impactful contribution to emissions reduction.
The sector’s role as an enabler of the energy transition must be more than a pitch to investors and policymakers. It should be a mission statement for companies and source of motivation for their workforces, underpinned by credible and robust action plans to reduce carbon intensity and tackle fugitive emissions.
At Gastech, we’re excited for these conversations to come to the fore. On the conference floor, we’ll hear from industry leaders grappling with how to build diverse, highly skilled workforces capable of meeting transition objectives. Meanwhile, the Gastech Future Leaders programme will give 200 young graduates and early-career executives the opportunity to discover the skillsets they could acquire and diverse careers paths available to them throughout the industry.
Don’t miss Gastech 2022, this 5th to 8th September in Milan, Italy.
To find out more about the conference, visit our website at:
https://www.gastechevent.com/conferences/strategic-conference
#Gastech, Fiera Milano, Italy 5-8 September 2022