Georg Kell

Founding Executive Director of United Nations Global Compact Chairman of Arabesque

Senior Advisor of GEIDCO 

Global Energy Interconnection (GEI) is a bold venture for the generation, transmission, and use of clean energy, applying a smart grid as well as ultra-high voltage transmissions to transport renewable energy over long distances and with minimal losses. Through its organizational arm, the Global Energy Interconnection Development Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO), GEI pursues two complimentary goals: accelerating the transformation of energy systems towards clean energy; and enabling access to energy for people still locked in energy poverty. GEI has thus the potential to be a key player in implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 Agenda and the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement by reducing emissions and giving access to modern and clean energy to the many people who are still locked in energy poverty. 

Starting with the industrial revolution some 200 years ago, humanity has seen enormous improvements in living standards. Especially over the past decades we have witnessed tremendous progress - hundreds of millions of people have escaped poverty and are leading healthier and longer lives. And in the years to come many more people stand a good chance of escaping poverty and enjoying the fruits of industrialization. However, we know with scientific certainty that our current business practices are not sustainable. The human impact on the natural environment has already caused enormous damage. We are poisoning and polluting the very foundation of life on earth - water, soil, and the air - and we are destroying biodiversity on a massive scale. The destruction of the natural environment and the consequences of climate change are negatively affecting living conditions across all regions of the world. Today, air pollution is the main cause of premature death, ahead of malnutrition. Scientists tell us that that if current business practices continue, we are not on track to keep the rise of global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius as governments pledged at the 2015 Paris Climate Summit. To avoid irreversible and possibly catastrophic damage to life on earth, we need to decarbonize economies and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, we need to make greater efforts to tackle energy poverty, as over one billion of the world’s population still have no access to modern energy. All government agreed on this, as well, when they adopted the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015. 

Transforming the energy system is at the heart of the challenge. Building an energy infrastructure that allows for the rapid replacement of fossil fuels with clean energy sources while simultaneously electrifying economic sectors such as transport, industry and heat production will drastically reduce emissions and at the same time give more people access to clean energy. The technology for doing so is available, but all too often the political will and the economic incentives to make this transformation happen are lacking. This is where GEI can play a catalytic and historical role. Backed by Chinese President XI Jinping, GEI enjoys strong political support. GEIDCO, the organization dedicated to GEI’s advancement, under the chairmanship of Mr. Liu Zhenya, has already achieved enormous progress by building alliances in all regions of the world and by forming partnerships with all relevant stakeholders, governments, businesses, civil society, and the scientific community since its launch in March 2016. 

At a recent major event held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on 1 November 2017, an impressive fellowship of like-minded organizations from many countries and different sectors of society affirmed their alignment with GEI and its Action Plan for implementing the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement. GEI’s Action Plan consists of Ten Actions and Five Cooperation Mechanisms.

The Ten Actions include:


• concept promotion


• clean development


• universal access to electricity 

• power grid interconnection 

• electricity replacement 

• smart grids


• capacity building


• and policy support 

The Five Cooperation Mechanisms include 

• global power grid planning


• transnational project construction


• global electricity trade 

• interconnected power grid coordination 

• collaboration in technical standards 

The challenge of transforming energy systems and decarbonizing markets is enormous. Progress has been slow so far, despite many efforts and technological advances. There is a clear urgency to accelerate the pace of change. Take, for example, the - quite spectacular - rise of renewable energy sources. Yes, the cost of solar and wind power generation declined by about 70% between the years 2000 and 2016; investments in renewable source-based power generation have surpassed fossil fuel-based investments; and the share of renewables in electricity generation in some countries has risen above 30% and continues to rise. Nevertheless, economic growth and demographic changes will continue to increase the demand for energy significantly in the coming decades and demand may have doubled by 2050. The International Energy Agency predicts that fossil fuels will continue to account for a major share in the future, and that total energy consumption in 2040 will still be 75% as compared to 80% today.

Such predictions are sobering and underscore the urgency to accelerate the pace of change. For GEI to play a catalytic role, it would seem helpful to align with global trends that support the energy transformation and to navigate the barriers that hold back progress while at the same time advancing GEI’s mission in critical markets. 

To be continued...