IGU’s Special Address at Brazil’s Natural Gas Seminar

IGU’s Special Address at Brazil’s Natural Gas Seminar

Organised every two years, Brazil’s Natural Gas Seminar is one of the most relevant forums for debates on the priority topics on the agenda of the natural gas sector in the country, and IGU’s Vice President, Mr Andrea Stegher, was invited as a special guest of the Plenary Session of the event’s 21st edition that took place earlier this week in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil and its Gas industry have been supported for a long time by the IGU, and the country’s continuous innovation in the Gas sector, represented by the acceleration of green gases and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) projects are fundamental in supporting the energy transition paths, being a great example of how important a diversified and complimentary energy matrix is to achieve the global goal of net zero. 

In his Plenary address, Mr Stegher especially emphasised the complexities surrounding the energy landscape in 2025, such as energy security, energy transition and geopolitical tensions:

“The Gas industry must be part of a solution, part of the collaboration required to promote human progress and global growth.

As the Gas industry is contributing to one quarter of the world’s energy needs, we cannot – and we should not – shy away from complex and uncomfortable conversations. In addition, we need to continue innovating what we do, as an industry, and particularly how we are doing this.

There isn’t one fixed roadmap to next zero or to reach the climate targets many of the world’s governments have pledged. It is a journey, and there are multiple pathways to achieve the energy transition we all strive for. However, allow me to be very clear: Gas is an immediately available, largely affordable, highly reliable and easily dispatchable energy resource, the cleanest of all conventional fossil fuels. Most importantly, it is also the natural partner of renewable energy, from both an infrastructure, transmission and distribution perspective and, also, from the perspective of addressing the renewables’ intermittency.

Stability is a word we seldom use, and we should become accustomed to using it. We, the Gas industry, provide it.”