3

Final Remarks

During the hotwash (a session for collecting and summarizing final thoughts), participants reflected on the scenarios and engaged in discussions based on participant reactions to the following four questions:

1. What was impactful to you?
2. What is the most important thing we should all take away from this event?
3. What was the most concerning impact that you saw? Why?
4. Are there any preparedness activities you would highlight for greater attention moving forward?

In discussing the workshop format and game design, participants expressed appreciation for the composition and caliber of participants and the exposure to alternative perspectives. As one participant noted, “We often only look at things through our own lens.” Participants expressed curiosity as to how workshop discussions would have evolved with other groups of participants. Although some noted these types of conversations (presumably about energy transition issues) were being held elsewhere, participants appreciated how the diversity of participant backgrounds—even within expertise groups—contributed to challenging individuals’ assumptions and forced participants to think differently.

During hotwash discussions, participants identified the following takeaways:

• The challenge of accelerating efforts necessary to meet net-zero goals while avoiding major problems associated with rapid change. As one participant stated, this workshop “underscored how little time we have if

• we are really going to meet net zero and how behind we are.” However, moving too quickly could lead to negative unintended consequences in the absence of an enterprise risk management framework for the entire Gulf region.
• Concerns about winners and losers. Instead of Gulf states acting as rivals in the energy transition, one participant asked what could be done to encourage them to bolster one another. Another commented on the lack of cohesion among government agencies, with each agency having its own plans for the transition. “There is currently no national leader. We need to get everyone on the same ship, sooner than later, to be successful.” Tackling the energy transition requires interconnected stakeholder groups that share information transparently. Trying to tackle the energy transition individually risks losing the ability to see systems-level impacts. Participants drew inspiration from the five-state Gulf Energy Diversification Council discussed in the Path to Net Zero scenario, and discussed different entities (e.g., the Gulf Ecosystem Restoration Council, the Gulf of Mexico Alliance) that could serve as models for such a leadership body to coordinate energy transition efforts among the five Gulf states.
• The importance of education, especially early education, to the transition. As one participant noted, comprehensive K–12 education centered on renewables, as coordinated across the Gulf states, will lay important groundwork that will change cultural attitudes toward renewables and benefit the future workforce and community engagement. Another noted the need for a forward-thinking approach to preparing the next workforce.
• Fears about environmental justice communities still getting left behind. One participant commented that strategies surrounding the energy transition fail to address existing problems and will create new ones. Responding to a question about possible exemplars, participants identified a few companies that they saw as at least somewhat successful in treating communities fairly in their energy transition efforts. They also emphasized the importance of learning from global examples, such as European countries further along in the transition.
• Potential safety issues that could arise with the energy transition. With the potential growth of hydrogen, for example, communities face exposure to risks from the existing network of pipelines, as well as new pipelines, throughout the Gulf and how these pipelines are used, maintained, and monitored moving forward. One participant noted that because these pipelines are below ground, no one thinks about them. As a result, there is a lack of awareness in communities throughout the Gulf region as to the degree to which this infrastructure exists and its potential risks and benefits.

• The importance of leveraging incentives and regulatory requirements. When asked about the potential role incentives can play in driving change, participants identified the following incentives:
  • Reduce carbon dioxide emissions from existing technologies in use—that is, how can we perform current manufacturing more efficiently?
  • Support local communities by training local, backing small businesses, and partnering with local nongovernmental organizations.
  • Offer apprenticeships and on-the-job training opportunities.
  • Expand access to clean energy for disadvantaged communities.
  • Share proprietary data (e.g., bathymetric data) that the oil and gas industry has collected, to support advancement of energy alternatives (e.g., evaluation of reservoirs for sequestration).
  • Ensure supply chain robustness for the entire portfolio of energy options.

    Participants also affirmed the need for regulatory requirements in some situations, even as they acknowledged the challenge of enforcing existing regulations.

Despite the concerns raised, participants expressed optimism coming out of the workshop of collectively being able to “do the hard things and figure out the hard problems” associated with the energy transition. As one participant noted, “I feel inspired because we can be different and still actually get to an outcome. I just hope we can magnify that effect.”

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