Meeting global climate targets requires a dramatic decline in fossil fuel production. Nicholas Institute experts are helping state-owned enterprises make the shift.
State-owned enterprises (SOEs) control more than half of the world’s coal, oil, and gas, making them the world’s largest energy companies by energy and fuel production. They have a critical role to play in the global energy transition.
That’s why the Nicholas Institute is working directly with SOEs in the energy sector, including Coal India Limited (India), Eskom (South Africa), and PT PLN (Persero) (Indonesia). Duke experts are supporting state-owned enterprises’ decarbonization efforts in three areas:
- Reducing emissions
- Diversifying into clean energy, and
- Supporting just energy transitions in the communities where they operate.
Unlike private companies, many SOEs face political, social, and institutional constraints that market mechanisms alone cannot resolve. SOEs manage national assets, employ hundreds of thousands of workers, and anchor entire regional economies.
Decarbonizing the energy system means helping these organizations develop climate mandates, building their institutional capacity, and providing them with practical tools to act on transition commitments.
The Nicholas Institute’s approach to this work combines deep institutional engagement, policy research, and techno-economic analysis. Duke experts are working directly with SOE leadership to co-develop research and practical tools that help these institutions act on their transition commitments.
