Far from giving any complete answer, this short post is only to share a hint on a question that has been puzzling me for a while.
The issue of energy security has its own chapter inside world's agenda, specially driven by fossil fuels and electricity generation. And, for obvious reasons, it has been linked to human security, as one of the emergent components of a renovated conception on security. However, the nature of the link has been less elaborated and, personally, and uneasy one.
The reason for the reflection this time is a paper (sorry, only in Spanish) I presented in a network of researchers on Asia-Pacific and Latin-America & the Caribbean under the Inter-American Development Bank. There, I noted how human security, from its adoption in 2003, has become an appropriate complement to the conventional business and development agenda, by encompassing the diversity of threats to international trade. Consequently, energy security - and even sustainability - has been subordinated as a part of this section, although annex documents describe more in deep the compromises reached around the issue.
It is precisely in this documents where the uneasiness begins. The core of measures typically consist on guaranteeing the supply, researching on new sources of energy, discussing on the future of nuclear energy, ensuring sustainability and emissions minimization. Yet, when looked from the "protection from above and empowerment from below" stress of human security, less of the latter can be foreseen. Moreover, most of the discourse on energy security has a technocratic tone, emphasizing on mega-projects while a technological breakthroughs renovates the investment portfolios.
So, then, what is the essence of the uneasiness? I found the appropriate word in the review made by the Economist about Amory Lovins and his work around resource efficiency. His point about more work on the demand and less on the supply side of energy consumption is the crux of an energy security alternative more congruent with the idea of human security. However, the detail on such a proposal is worth much work and space.
See you next time,
OAGS