Decarbonisation is changing the world. What about Czechia?

The NASA website lists nine pieces of evidence for global warming: temperatures are rising at the Earth’s surface and in the oceans. Ice sheets on land in Greenland and Antarctica are shrinking. Glaciers are retreating in almost all mountain ranges around the world, including the Alps and the Himalayas. Snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is declining and melting earlier. Global sea levels are rising. Arctic ice extent and thickness are declining. The number of extreme weather events is increasing. Oceans are acidifying. The stated reason for all this is the growing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

In August, the first part of another assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was published after eight years. It runs to some 4,000 pages and includes references to primary scientific studies. A Summary for Policymakers was also published. That is more manageable – it is 41 pages long. It is available on the IPCC website, and at the very least its charts are worth reviewing. Everyone can thus form their own overall picture.

Those who see the entire situation as a problem also seek a solution. Much of the developed and developing world has embraced this approach. The European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, New Zealand, Brazil, Chile and Argentina want to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, while China aims for 2060. Europe is therefore far from alone in this, contrary to what we may sometimes read. On the contrary, the number of countries setting increasingly ambitious climate targets continues to grow.

After the leaders of European countries agreed on carbon neutrality by 2050, the European Commission immediately began working on how to achieve this goal step by step. In July, Brussels therefore issued proposals for specific measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030. This implements the strategic decision of the EU summit.

The package is collectively known as Fit for 55. Among other things, it sets very ambitious targets for the growth of renewable energy sources and energy savings. Once discussed and adopted, it will be reflected in the legislation of individual countries, including Czechia, and subsequently in changes to the business environment. Some in Czechia support it, while others are more sceptical. However, everyone could agree on a pragmatic approach. The global trend has a clear direction, and the possibility of changing it is negligible. It has been gaining strength for the past fifteen years.

Even giants such as Exxon, BP and Total, as well as Volkswagen, have concluded that this is where a new playing field and new business opportunities are emerging. Hundreds of billions – and not in crowns – will change hands. Czech industry therefore needs to become more involved in the growing green business. Development and export opportunities need to be sought out and seized. Quite a lot of European money has been made available for these purposes.

In energy, such opportunities include the Innovation Fund and the Modernisation Fund. This is also why ČEZ is preparing to build 1.5 GW of renewable capacity by 2025 and a total of 6 GW by 2030.

And finally, one more pragmatic aspect. Today, the EU and Czechia import a substantial share of their energy from countries that are risky for various reasons. Renewable energy sources, by contrast, are always local. They thus increase our self-sufficiency and independence.

Pavel Řežábek, Chief Economist at ČEZ