Policy and Commitment Necessary for Success in the Energy Transition According to 2020 World Energy Trilemma Index

October 8, 2020 – Today the World Energy Council in partnership with Oliver Wyman unveiled the latest progress for almost 130 countries on policy development and actual performance related to Energy Security, Equity and Environmental Sustainability.  

The 2020 World Energy Trilemma Index, created by the World Energy Council in partnership with global consultancy Oliver Wyman, a business of Marsh & McLennan Companies, provides an objective rating of national energy policy and performance across three dimensions: Energy Security, Energy Equity and the Environmental Sustainability of Energy Systems. 

Launched today during the digital World Energy Week event, the World Energy Trilemma Index provides a ranking of almost 130 countries’ energy performance using global and national data. The Index analyses historic trends to enable energy policy makers and stakeholders to track their policy performance over time and comparing with others to explore how to improve. 

Key highlights:

• Eight countries achieved the top AAA balance grade, representing top quartile performance in every dimension.
• Improvement in Sustainability and Security go hand in hand. Sustained investments in wind and solar mean countries with the highest overall scores, such as Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark, have simultaneously reduced emissions while diversifying their energy systems.
• Of the three dimensions, Equity has seen the greatest improvements since 2000, driven by policy-led efforts to increase access to energy in developing countries. The three countries with the highest improvement in the overall Trilemma score are Cambodia, Myanmar and Kenya primarily as a result of their performance on Energy Equity.
• The highest scoring countries on Security have diversified energy systems and benefit from significant natural resource endowments. The three strongest performers – Canada, Finland and Romania – have large hydropower resources and are diversifying their energy mix through investment in solar and wind.
• The rate of improvement in overall Trilemma performance generally increases as the transition progresses – typically, performance in all three dimensions are advancing and accelerating.

Dr Angela Wilkinson, Secretary General, World Energy Council: “This has been a turbulent year for societies and economies. Tools such as the well-respected World Energy Trilemma Index are more important than ever as countries, companies and customers start to recover. The index enables individual countries and diverse regions to learn from each other about what’s working and what’s not in joining-the dots between people, planet and prosperity by managing the connected challenges of energy security, energy affordability and equity and environmental sustainability.”

Francois Austin, Partner and Global Head of Energy, Oliver Wyman:  “The 2020 Trilemma Index shows that the significantly improved nations are undergoing a faster-paced energy transition. While the impact of COVID likely won’t be seen until next year at the earliest, one thing is for sure – top-performing nations achieve their energy goals by balancing policy, corporate action, national resource usage, and changes to individual behavior with environmental concerns.  These trends in aggregate as well as at the national and regional levels can give policymakers and business leaders direction to shape energy’s future.”

Comprehensive data and analytical insights are a necessary tool for policymakers to develop a coherent approach to the global energy future. To make these insights widely available, the World Energy Council and Oliver Wyman also launched the Trilemma interactive online tool featuring countries’ energy profiles and Trilemma performance since the year 2000.

The Trilemma Index and interactive online tool feature a variety of findings about the state of energy around the world. Please review at https://trilemma.worldenergy.org/  

• Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark are the top three rated countries across all three Trilemma dimensions in 2020. These countries have maintained consistent and balanced performance coupled with steady economic and population growth for a number of years.
• Cambodia, Myanmar and Kenya have shown the biggest improvements in the overall Trilemma over the past 20 years, as a result of a focus on energy access, electrification, energy generation diversity, and infrastructure investment.
• The top Environmental Sustainability performers in 2020 are Switzerland, Sweden, and Norway with their longstanding attention to the sustainability of their energy policies. Since 2000, Azerbaijan and Ukraine have significantly improved their Sustainability performance by decarbonizing their energy systems.
• The rate of improvement in overall Trilemma performance also appears to be increasing – half of the countries have consistently improved overall scores since 2015, while fewer than 20 countries consistently improved scores since 2000.

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About the World Energy Council / www.worldenergy.org

The World Energy Council is the principal impartial network of energy leaders and practitioners promoting an affordable, stable and environmentally sensitive energy system for the greatest benefit of all. Formed in 1923, the Council is the UN-accredited global energy body, representing the entire energy spectrum, with over 3,000 member organisations in over 90 countries, drawn from governments, private and state corporations, academia, NGOs and energy stakeholders. We inform global, regional and national energy strategies by hosting high-level events including the World Energy Congress and publishing authoritative studies, and work through our extensive member network to facilitate the world’s energy policy dialogue.

About Oliver Wyman

Oliver Wyman is a global leader in management consulting. With offices in 60 cities across 29 countries, Oliver Wyman combines deep industry knowledge with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, and organization transformation. The firm has more than 5,000 professionals around the world who work with clients to optimize their business, improve their operations and risk profile, and accelerate their organizational performance to seize the most attractive opportunities. Oliver Wyman is a business of Marsh & McLennan Companies [NYSE: MMC]. For more information, visit www.oliverwyman.com. Follow Oliver Wyman on Twitter @OliverWyman.

For media queries contact: Andrew Vickers, avickers@worldenergy.org

Please email should you seek a full (adobe) copy of the World Energy Transition Index report or an interview. The report contains a number of graphics.