Most of the Pakistanis consider cost of energy as an “important issue” for them, according to a survey commissioned by Shell Pakistan.
As many as nine out of 10 Pakistanis surveyed ranked the cost of energy as the most important issue for them while eight out of 10 considered that having access to adequate energy supplies in the future was critical.
The complete survey results were officially launched for the first time to a group of Pakistani energy and journalists at a press briefing here on Wednesday by Wim Thomas, the Chief Energy Advisor for Royal Dutch Shell and Omar Sheikh, Managing Director of Shell Pakistan.
“Energy is Pakistan’s primary issue-today, and at Shell it was important for us to understand what the average Pakistani thinks about our current energy challenge and future energy solutions – this is why we were so keen to commission this research,” said Omar Sheikh.
A total of 2,020 Pakistanis were surveyed across six major cities in Pakistan and five regional rural areas to assess their views on Pakistan’s energy future and what their priorities are when it comes to energy.
The survey was designed and conducted by Ipsos between September and October 2013. Another highlight from the survey was that in the context of an energy constrained world, 9 of 10 Pakistanis ranked higher unemployment and higher energy prices as two factors that would have the largest impact on Pakistan, followed closely by energy and food shortages.
At the same event, Wim Thomas also presented a recent research publication from Shell, the new Lens Scenarios, Shell has been developing scenarios to explore the future and deepen its strategic thinking for 40 years, in an effort to help people and policy makers anticipate the future to make better decisions.
The scenarios go beyond traditional energy outlooks by covering a broader set of drivers and trends in economics, geopolitics, social change, and environmental stresses on water and climate, and look further ahead than comparable analyses mainly to 2,060 for the energy system but also out to 2,100 for climate implications and renewable energy.
