It is customary to think of our relationship with energy as one of transition: wood being replaced by coal, coal by oil, oil by nuclear and then all by green sources. Far from the industrial era having undergone a series of transformations, each new phase has remained almost totally intertwined with the previous one, so the very idea of transition is proving to be misguided.

Drawing on a wide range of examples, Jean-Baptiste Fressoz will describe how we have ‘gorged’ ourselves on all forms of energy - with whole forests needed to underpin coal mines, coal remaining central to the creation of countless new products and oil still central to our lives.

“Transition” was originally promoted by the energy companies, not as a real plan but as a means of delaying any significant change. This conference will be an opportunity to understand the modern world and the true nature of the challenges that lie ahead.

This discussion was moderated in French and English by Alice Pirlot, Assistant Professor of International Law.