Special Screening

“Without Leaving Anyone Behind” with Dr. Harrie Vredenburg

This documentary was produced by Dr. Harrie Vredenburg and Sylverster Ndumbi to bring the global community together through thoughtful conversation on the energy transition. The documentary will take us on a journey to discover the possibilities that lie ahead as we address climate change in a pragmatic non-polarized manner and transition to a new energy future. There are those who are calling for the immediate shut down of all fossil fuel production. If this goal were achieved right away, millions of people around the world would be left behind, left behind due to lack of modern energy or left behind due to unemployment. What happens to developing countries in the Global South? Their citizens want and deserve the same standard of living as those in the West (which was mostly fuelled by access to cheap energy). Is it fair to stop them from developing their natural resources? What about the people who work in the oil and gas industry? Can we utilize their skills and expertise in the transition?

The energy and climate change question has been polarized for too long. It’s been climate change mitigation versus jobs, climate change mitigation versus energy security, climate change mitigation versus economic development of the Global South’s emerging economies, climate change versus standard of living. We need to find ways to reconcile the horns of these dilemmas through innovative technologies and policies. Unless we can come together and listen to each other, not with the intention of being proven right but just to listen to the other’s point of view, as we transition to a low-carbon future, many people will be left behind.