Over one in eight (13%) business leaders believe that Cop28 will slow the green energy transition down, a new survey from Censuswide has found.
A quarter (26%) of the more than 2,500 European business leaders surveyed said the availability of green energy supply and infrastructure was the top barrier to them achieving their own objectives in the space, and cited bureaucratic hurdles and cost factors as the second and third biggest challenges.
Fossil fuels were singled out as the biggest issue to address in 2024, by the business leaders followed by building more storage facilities.
The key takeaways of Cop28 included a commitment to tripling the capacity of renewable energy sources by 2030 and making the first-ever call to transition away from fossil fuels, however, the much-anticipated term “phasing out” of fossil fuels was explicitly omitted from the deal.
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Some 21% of European business leaders believe national governments hold the most responsibility for the green transition, while 17% think that on a European-wide level, the responsibility is largely shared by regional organisations, such as the EU.
Across UK business leaders, 20% also pointed towards regional organisations as being most accountable, despite no longer being part of the EU.
The survey – commissioned by BayWa r.e. – found that 80% of European businesses already have a green energy strategy in place and almost half (48%) are in the early stages of implementing them.
BayWa r.e. CEO Matthias Taft said: “When it comes to what we need to tackle in 2024 to advance the energy transition, phasing out fossil fuels must be a top priority.
“To achieve this, we need a more resilient renewable energy supply network and robust storage solutions.
“Businesses are ready for the green transition, but bureaucracy and the lack of availability of green energy is standing in their way. This is leaving more than one backdoor open for the fossil fuel industry – on top of the weakened language we saw at Cop28.”
