Elina Teplinsky and host Joel Simon discuss the financial community’s response to the energy transition including the focus on novel technologies such as clean hydrogen, advanced nuclear reactors and carbon capture and storage.
Transcripts
Joel Simon:
Hi, and welcome to Pillsbury’s Industry Insights podcast, where we discuss current legal and practical issues in finance and related sectors. I’m Joel Simon, a finance partner at the international law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. Our guest today is Elina Teplinsky. Elina is the deputy leader of our firm’s Energy Industry Group, and is also the Lead Partner on Pillsbury’s International Nuclear Projects Team. Elina has worked on Energy projects in more than 30 countries around the world, and is currently advising clients on a number of innovative issues in the energy space, such as advanced nuclear reactor development, hydrogen production, and coal repowering. Elina is an advisor to the Clean Air Taskforce, and the co-chair of the World Nuclear Association’s Law Working Group. Welcome to our podcast, Elina.
Elina Teplinsky:
Hi, Joel. Thanks very much for inviting me to be here today.
Joel Simon: With climate change and sustainability dominating the environmental landscape, there has been a lot of press in the last year or two about the energy transition. What exactly is the energy transition, and why is it so important?
Elina Teplinsky:
ow for more than a decade. In:
Joel Simon:
And that’s where energy transition comes in.
Elina Teplinsky:
Exactly. There are a number of sectors that are the main contributors to global warming, and the energy sector is one of them. Energy transition reflects and understands that the change really has to be dramatic and quick. The energy transition has to be a worldwide phenomenon; it can’t just be limited to a number of countries that are most supportive of it. And the most challenging geographical areas are emerging markets because that’s where the growth is—these are the markets that really need growth in electrification. They need to be able to meet the needs of their industry, their burgeoning economies, and, at the same time, they’re the most impacted by climate change, and, in many cases, the least able to afford its consequences. For the developing world, you need to have an energy transition that is not just climate focused, but also sustainable, and that are going to meet these industrial and global needs.
Joel Simon:
I know that the world’s energy mix has changed only slightly in the past 50 years, with the modest decrease in dependence on oil being offset primarily by increases in natural gas and coal, but many see this year’s dramatic drop in carbon emissions due to lockdowns and other pandemic-related issues as a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the transition to succeed, and to avoid a return to the pre-pandemic energy mix. Do you see that playing out in the real world in matters you’re handling for clients?
Elina Teplinsky:
% reduction by:
Joel Simon:
And the role to be played by governments?
Elina Teplinsky:
carbon emissions, which is by:
Joel Simon:
With all of those opportunities, Elina, it sounds like it might be a good time to be a lender or other financier in the energy sector to help facilitate this transition. Can you tell us about that?
Elina Teplinsky:
d in the past year or two. In:
Joel Simon:
Elina, thank you for such an enlightening discussion.
