World Energy Trilemma Framework

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Healthy energy systems are secure, equitable and environmentally sustainable, showing a carefully managed balanced Trilemma between the three dimensions. Maintaining this balance in context of rapid transition to decentralised, decarbonised and digital systems is challenging with the risk of passive trade-offs between equally critical priorities.

Energy leaders and policymakers need to manage the competing demands of the energy trilemma, which is why the World Energy Council has been releasing it's World Energy Trilemma Report and Index since 2010. The World Energy Trilemma framework, developed across the Council’s worldwide community in more than 100 countries, is recognised as a trustworthy and practical tool to guide and sustain progress on energy transitions globally.

This annual measurement of national energy system performances works across each of the three trilemma dimensions:

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As people navigate the complex and interdependent structures and operations of diverse energy systems, the World Energy Trilemma Framework serves as a navigation tool that helps to guide energy leaders in the management of competing demands, while the World Energy Trilemma Index tracks and measures integrated energy system performance across more than 120 countries.

The tool can also be used to:

Learn from leading performers and best practices
Assess effectiveness of energy policies for enabling balanced energy transition management
Analyse the urgency of competing priorities
Test the relative impact of focus shifts and new directions
Support dialogue on integrated policy innovation to manage connected challenges

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World Energy Trilemma Report 2024

Now in its 15th year, the World Energy Trilemma Framework is recognised as a valuable tool to navigate and accelerate energy transitions around the world. The World Energy Trilemma Report 2024 identifies emerging trends affecting energy security, equity, and sustainability, laying the groundwork for the evolution of the Trilemma framework and its dimensions, extending its use and enabling real-time application through accessible data, new metrics, and expanded practical use of the tool beyond countries to regions and cities as a means of energy transition performance management and pathfinding.