At the 2024 Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC), Vineet Mittal, Chairman of India’s Avaada Group, called for greater financial and regulatory support to meet the global energy transition’s needs.
Addressing the world’s largest energy summit, Mittal argued that the widely cited $35 trillion estimate for a full transition to sustainable energy by 2050 is inadequate, suggesting that the realistic cost is closer to $200 trillion.
Mittal underscored the urgency of massive investment to meet decarbonisation goals in a detailed breakdown of the sector-specific requirements for a climate-secure future.
Despite 2023’s record-breaking $2.8 trillion in energy investments, he warned that sustained spending at this level will fall short of the targets required to combat climate change.
Mittal emphasized that the power sector must undergo a significant transformation, requiring a 93 per cent reduction in emissions by 2035. This will involve tripling global renewable energy capacity to 11 terawatts by 2030 and further expanding to 31 terawatts by 2050.
The transportation sector, he noted, also faces an urgent deadline, with all new passenger vehicles needing to be electric by 2034 and the entire passenger fleet fully electrified by 2046.
Green hydrogen, essential for decarbonizing high-energy industries, was highlighted as a central element of the global energy transition.
Current production levels must rise from 94 million tons to 400 million tons by 2050 to support hard-to-abate sectors.
Mittal drew from Avaada’s expertise in renewable energy to advocate for policy incentives similar to the feed-in tariffs that helped scale the solar industry.
Vineet Mittal concluded by calling for collaboration between new clean-energy companies and established industry leaders, combining agility with financial scale to fast-track the energy transition. “A sustainable future isn’t a single company’s achievement—it’s a global effort, demanding innovative partnerships and a unified commitment to transformation,” he stated.