Why collaboration is the keystone to a resilient, sustainable energy system
Jul 01, 2026
With the world’s increasing focus on energy security, Ipieca CEO Brian Sullivan asks how can we create resilient energy systems that also deliver for people, planet and nature?
While the human toll of the current geopolitical situation is of course foremost, we have also seen that energy security has moved rapidly up countries’ agendas worldwide.
And while energy access, reliability and affordability are fundamental issues, during past crises we have seen sustainability as a priority come under pressure.
At Ipieca, the global oil and gas association dedicated to advancing environmental and social performance across the energy transition, we recognise that sustainability is at the core of building not only resilient energy systems, but also creating a competitive advantage for energy companies when faced with changing and challenging markets.
Collaboration as a key enabler
Creating reliable, sustainable energy systems depends on a surrounding enabling environment, in which collaboration is key.
Collaboration across companies, sectors and borders can support data and knowledge sharing to build the awareness and capacity necessary for the adoption and uptake of sustainability practices related to adaptation and resilience, responsible resource management, energy efficiency and social inclusion and local development, which can help ensure the resilience of energy companies.
International cooperation can support the technical and regulatory frameworks, finance and shared infrastructure needed for a reliable, sustainable and interconnected energy system.
Reliability and affordability
This current geopolitical context has brought to the mainstream the interconnection of energy systems, but also the importance of energy to just about every other sector of the global economy. Achieving resilient energy systems requires the development of integrated, cross-sector pathways that advance decarbonisation while safeguarding energy security and economic prosperity.
The oil and gas industry has a critical role to play in this transition, leveraging its technical expertise, infrastructure and investment capacity to support the deployment of lower-carbon solutions at scale. By acting as a bridge between existing and emerging energy systems, the sector can help ensure that progress towards climate goals is accompanied by continued access to reliable and affordable energy.
Supporting new technology
Strategic investment in lower-carbon fuels and regional carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) hubs offers a significant opportunity to strengthen both resilience and sustainability. Lower-carbon fuels can enhance energy diversification and support emissions reductions across multiple sectors, while shared CCUS infrastructure can accelerate decarbonisation by enabling industries to access cost-effective emissions management solutions.
These investments can help underpin industrial competitiveness, support economic development and reinforce the long-term reliability of energy systems.
This will be particularly important for hard-to-abate sectors such as heavy industry, aviation and shipping, which are fundamental to global economic activity yet face complex decarbonisation challenges.
The continued development of lower-carbon fuels, CCUS and other enabling technologies can help these sectors maintain operational continuity while progressively reducing emissions.
A resilient energy transition must therefore focus not only on achieving climate objectives, but also on ensuring that essential industries can continue to deliver the goods, services and infrastructure upon which societies depend.
Determining sustainable operations
Realising this vision will require cooperation across governments, industry, financial institutions and civil society.
Mobilising investment, harmonising regulatory frameworks, sharing knowledge and developing common infrastructure will be essential to accelerating deployment of low-carbon technologies.
By strengthening global partnerships and aligning efforts across sectors, we can build a more resilient, secure and sustainable energy system that supports both development aspirations and climate ambitions.
Our energy system can only be considered truly sustainable if it supports fair growth and improved living conditions for all, while delivering on climate mitigation goals and protecting and enhancing nature.
To deliver this will require unprecedented collaboration with all countries, sectors, energies and technologies playing their part.
Energy Connects includes information by a variety of sources, such as contributing experts, external journalists and comments from attendees of our events, which may contain personal opinion of others. All opinions expressed are solely the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Energy Connects, dmg events, its parent company DMGT or any affiliates of the same.
