Clean energy continues to advance despite political setback in the US and other countries

Companies and countries are no longer hyping their environmental efforts and are moving silently towards sustainable goals. Even with growing political resistance in the US and other Western nations, the energy transition is moving forward, executives said during the Fortune Global Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

A big change is the abandonment of empty promises of carbon neutrality in favor of practical applications of clean energy, which make economic sense and generate financial returns.

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“This obstacle to the green agenda comes from the myth that continuing to act sustainably makes everything more expensive and causes job losses,” said Jose La Loggia, president of the Emea group at HVAC giant Trane Technologies.

This myth is false, he said, explaining that Trane cogeneration systems can be up to 400% more energy efficient and pay for themselves quickly.

“It’s greener, cheaper and better for everyone,” said La Loggia, adding that the biggest challenge is overcoming human fear of change. “We can’t ignore the fact that people really don’t like change — we need to work on that.”

Faisal Sultan, president of Lucid Motors in the Middle East, highlighted that the electric vehicle industry is facing the recent loss of tax incentives in the US. According to him, the sector became complacent and did not advance enough in areas such as recharging, autonomy and comfort — Lucid’s main focus.

The rest of the industry now realizes that it needs to evolve so that people choose electric cars for quality, not just because they are environmentally friendly. “Electric vehicles are growing, but they will do so in a more practical way,” said Sultan.

Even so, he highlighted that governments need consistent, long-term policies, without sudden changes depending on the political climate.

“We need lasting policies. The only thing we must all agree on is the climate, because the world needs to continue to exist,” he said.

“There are those who think we can live on Mars,” he added, in an apparent reference to Elon Musk, CEO of rival Tesla, “but we shouldn’t give up on Earth so quickly.”

Overcoming the “setback”

Mohammed El Zarkani, United Nations resident coordinator in Saudi Arabia, said soil degradation, drought and other impacts of climate change cost the global economy $900 billion a year.

“This is not something abstract: factories close due to lack of water, shipping routes are interrupted, food shortages increase and supply chains collapse,” he said.

Protecting the environment, therefore, makes economic sense, highlighted El Zarkani. “Environmental risk is business risk.”

The current political resistance is just a “temporary setback,” he said, driven by older politicians rather than young people, whose climate engagement continues to grow.

There is also growing concern about the artificial intelligence boom, La Loggia said, as data centers consume a lot of energy. At the same time, AI-controlled software can reduce energy waste by more than 25% — as long as the technology is used for good.

“We need to stop wasting energy,” he concluded.