Energy systems around the world are going through rapid transitions that affect many aspects of our lives. The continuation and acceleration of these shifts will bring important changes to the way we fuel our cars, heat our homes, and power our industries in the coming decades.

In this talk, Bram Smeets and Alexander Pfeiffer will present two of McKinsey’s proprietary energy scenarios – the Global Reference Case and a European Decarbonization Scenario. This Global Reference Case provides our consensus view on how energy demand will evolve over the coming three decades. The European Decarbonization Scenario provides an alternative trajectory under the assumption that the EU will meet its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The differences between the scenarios are stark and provide some insight into the changes required in all sectors to meet the Paris climate goals. We use these scenarios to help our clients across sectors to navigate the energy transition.