Doha, Qatar: As wars disrupt vital shipping lanes, sanctions redraw global energy trade flows, cyberattacks target critical infrastructure, and intensifying heatwaves, floods, droughts, and wildfires expose the growing fragility of energy systems worldwide, the foundations of the global energy order are being tested as never before.
Against this backdrop of mounting instability and accelerating climate risk, senior executives, policymakers, diplomats, and international experts convened in Doha this week for the Al-Attiyah Foundation’s second CEO Roundtable of 2026, titled “Energy Security Takes Centre Stage: What It Means for Climate Ambition.” Held under the Chatham House Rule, the roundtable provided a high-level strategic forum to examine how governments and industries are recalibrating priorities as energy security rapidly overtakes climate change as the dominant driver of policy and investment decisions.
Moderated by renowned journalist and international broadcaster Stephen Cole, the discussion featured expert contributions from Erik Solheim, former Executive Director of UN Environment and former United Nations Under-Secretary-General; Janos Pasztor, former UN Assistant Secretary-General for Climate Change and Senior Advisor to the UN Secretary-General; Amal Al Dababseh, UNDP Regional Technical Advisor for Climate Change Mitigation and Energy for the Arab States Region; and Aldo Flores-Quiroga, former Deputy Secretary of Energy for Hydrocarbons at Mexico’s Ministry of Energy.
The roundtable explored how the global energy system is entering a period of structural transformation shaped simultaneously by geopolitical fragmentation, climate pressures, market volatility, technological disruption, and shifting investment patterns.
Speaking after the roundtable, H E Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Al-Attiyah Foundation, said: “At a time when the global energy system is being reshaped by geopolitical uncertainty, climate pressures, and economic volatility, this discussion provided an important opportunity for leaders to examine how energy security and climate ambition can be pursued together rather than in opposition. The transition ahead must not only be sustainable, but also resilient, secure, and realistic.”
