Back

Breaking Free from Fossil Fuels

January 20, 2026
Related topics: 
Commodities & Energy
Natural Resources
Climate change and biodiversity

The episode explores the global push to move beyond fossil fuels amid climate urgency, geopolitical tensions, and energy security shocks. It highlights how the energy transition is advancing unevenly, with advanced economies decarbonizing faster than many Global South countries constrained by financing and development needs. Renewables, green hydrogen, electrification, and efficiency emerge as key pillars of this shift. Ultimately, the transition is framed as a geopolitical, industrial, and social transformation reshaping global competitiveness and North–South power relations.

Speakers
Ahmed Ouhnini
Economist, Policy Center for the New South
Ahmed Ouhnini is an Economist at the Policy Center for the New South. His research area covers agricultural economics, human and social development. Previously, he has worked as a researcher at the Paris School of Economics (PSE) and has also a record of working in consulting services in Morocco. Ahmed holds an engineering Diploma in Agriculture and Rural Development from the National School of Agriculture of Meknes and a Master’s Degree in Law, Economics and Management from the Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne Institute of Development. ...

RELATED CONTENT

  • The Neglected Side of the Water Management Equation: Demand Management
    Authors
    Ahmed Rachid El-Khattabi
    March 17, 2022
    The start of 2022 has been marked by drought, with countries around the world experiencing abnormally low levels of precipitation and dryness over the last few months. On the African continent, the intensity and duration of the droughts is wreaking havoc on economies already struggling because of the pandemic. In the eastern part of the continent, drought threatened to put countries in the Horn of Africa “on the brink of catastrophe” as late as February. In the north, Morocco is exp ...
  • The One Ocean Summit : What Did It Bring to the Table ?
    Rim Riouch & Afaf Zarkik
    February 25, 2022
    The One Planet Summit for the Ocean was held in Brest during which President Emmanuel Macron brought together heads of state and government, heads of multilateral institutions, business l ...
  • Download PDF
    Transition environnementale, matières premières et industrialisation : quelles synergies engager ?
    Authors
    Yves Jégourel
    February 14, 2022
    Si les liens existant entre l’exportation de matières premières et l’industrialisation sont étudiés depuis longtemps, l’entrée résolue de l’économie mondiale dans l’ère de la transition environnementale et numérique leur offre une dimension toute particulière. L’évidence de la lutte contre le réchauffement climatique par la décarbonation de notre monde ne saurait, en effet, faire oublier toute la complexité de la stratégie à adopter pour y parvenir. Il s’agit, pour l ...
  • Afrique : trois grands projets pétroliers progressent en vue d’une mise en production dans les prochaines années
    Authors
    Francis Perrin
    December 24, 2021
    En dépit de toutes les critiques contre les énergies fossiles au niveau international, plusieurs projets pétroliers et gaziers continuent à être lancés et à progresser en vue de prochaines mises en production. L’Afrique ne fait pas exception à la règle, bien au contraire. Des projets pétroliers importants sont ainsi en cours de développement dans plusieurs pays du continent et, pour au moins trois d’entre eux, le compte à rebours est bien engagé. Nous évoquerons dans cette Opinion l ...
  • Assessing Morocco’s progress in the context of COP26
    Uri Dadush and Rim Berahab
    November 19, 2021
    This Podcast is based on a Policy Brief by Rim Berahab and Uri Dadush. It examines how Morocco progresses on the mitigation component of its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targe ...
  • Download PDF
    Morocco at COP 26
    Authors
    Rim Berahab
    Uri Dadush
    November 9, 2021
     As COP 26 unfolds, more attention is likely to be paid to big emitters such as China and the United States than to the situation of small developing countries, even though they are more exposed to the consequences of climate change. Morocco falls into this category. This Policy Brief examines Morocco's mitigation objectives under its NDCs and its performance to date before exploring the needed measures to achieve the 2030 mid- term goal. Although Morocco has made significant p ...
  • Download PDF
    Le Maroc à la COP 26
    Authors
    Rim Berahab
    Uri Dadush
    November 9, 2021
     Lors de la COP 26, il est probable que l'on accorde plus d'attention aux grands émetteurs comme la Chine et les États-Unis qu'à la situation des petits pays en développement, pourtant plus exposés aux conséquences du changement climatique. Le Maroc fait partie de cette catégorie. Ce Policy Brief examine les objectifs d'atténuation du Maroc dans le cadre de ses CDN et ses performances à ce jour avant de s'intéresser aux mesures nécessaires pour atteindre l'objectif à moyen term ...