Estonia to host World Energy Leaders' Summit

TALLINN - The Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications together with the World Energy Council will digitally host the World Energy Leaders' Summit Estonia 2021 from studios in Tallinn and London.

The annual event brings together energy ministers and top business leaders. The summit is convened by the World Energy Council, the world's oldest permanent energy sector organization and the only independent international membership-based non-profit organization in energy. The country hosting the event changes every year.

The topic of this year's summit is "From Transition to Transformation" and the event will focus on the impact of digitization on various sources of energy and the complexities of the global transition to clean, affordable, secure and fair energy.

Secretary General and CEO of the World Energy Council Angela Wilkinson said that together with decarbonization, decentralization and changes in consumption, digitization will create new opportunities for a transition in energy and change societies and economies across the world.

"This year's World Energy Leaders’ Summit Estonia 2021 is one of the most important events on the World Energy Council's calendar. It is a rare opportunity enabling to have an honest discussion and exchange experiences on complex issues. The agenda for digitization also includes the role of automation in relation to skills and jobs, the forthcoming need to adapt the workforce and new risks caused by accelerating digitization. Top executives will also discuss the impact of the so-called digital divide, which has sharply arisen in the light of the coronavirus, as well as its impact on the energy transition," Wilkinson noted.

Hando Sutter, chairman of the management board of Estonian state-owned energy group Eesti Energia, which forms part of the World Energy Council’s Estonian member committee, said that the World Energy Leaders' Summit is an excellent high-level discussion event for sharing the best practices, learning from each other's experience and for engaging in cooperation in energy transition.

The event will be attended by 60 leaders in energy, including the delegations of seven states' energy ministers.

Estonian Minister of Entrepreneurship and IT Andres Sutt said that the forthcoming digital transition concerns all aspects of the economy, thus the energy sector must likewise be ready for the arrival of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, which will bring about great changes. Sutt said that a leap forward is needed in our approach to traditional sectors, such as energy, to recognize and make use of the potential of digitization as part of our effort to achieve the set climate goals.

Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Taavi Aas said that the global energy sector is about to step into a new era that is characterized by rapid and fundamental change.

"We need to make a joint effort to pursue a green, sustainable and digital future. We will face numerous gigantic difficulties in our pursuit of cleaner energy, which will be easier to resolve if we do it together. This is where the World Energy Leaders' Summit has an important role as it brings together the decision-makers and enables us to pave the way towards a cleaner and fairer future," Aas said.

The summit will be hosted by the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications together with the World Energy Council and its Estonian member committee. Participation in the event is by invitation only.

The next World Energy Leaders’ Summit 2022 will be held in St. Petersburg as part of the World Energy Congress taking place in Russia in October 2022. The topic of the congress is "Energy for Humanity".

Previous World Energy Leaders’ Summits have been hosted by Mexico, Italy, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina and Colombia.