Energy Prospectives #22 – Economy and Energy (Full session)

This is the full session video of the 22nd edition of Energy Prospectives, that took place on March 10, 2026, at the Madrid Campus of IESE Business School. On this occasion, the series of high-level conversations between Naturgy Foundation and IESE included the participation of Kadri Simson, former European Commissioner for Energy during the first von der Leyen Commission, and Raymond Torres, Director of Economic Trends at Funcas and of the Funcas Europe Observatory. The session was moderated by Edi Soler, Associate Professor of the Practice of Management at IESE Business School. Kadri Simson opened her presentation by acknowledging the rapid pace of change in global energy markets. She explained that if the conference had been held two weeks earlier, she would have relied on International Energy Agency data to describe a global oversupply of oil and gas, and she underlined how quickly circumstances have shifted, to the benefit of producing countries, including not only the United States but also Russia. Simson emphasized the interconnection between energy security, affordability, and sustainability, insisting that these three dimensions are not inherently in conflict. The former European Comissioner for Energy argued that the lasting solution lies in reducing energy consumption and replacing imported fossil fuels with energy that can be generated domestically, primarily through electricity. Regarding future policy frameworks, Simson indicated that the European emissions trading system will require substantial revision. She recalled that the ETS was originally designed to meet the 2030 climate targets rather than the following decade. Raymond Torres provided a macroeconomic perspective on Europe’s energy vulnerability. He stressed that Europe remains structurally exposed in energy terms and that any disturbance in global markets tends to have especially severe consequences for the European economy. Torres identified the energy price differential as a key structural challenge, arguing that significantly higher energy prices in Europe help explain the outflow of capital and savings to other regions. On the contentious issue of how gas prices influence electricity markets, Torres advocated reforms that would soften the role of gas in power price formation, for example by giving greater weight to capacity markets or developing alternative mechanisms. He recognized the importance of price signals for efficient markets but cautioned that these signals can become highly volatile. In the welcome address, Rafael Villaseca, Chairman of Naturgy Foundation, placed the event within the broader mission of the Foundation, arguing that it is almost impossible to reflect on decades of economic crises without immediately addressing the role of energy. He recalled that the well-known energy “trilemma” has once again been profoundly altered by geopolitical factors and reaffirmed the Foundation’s commitment to promoting informed analysis in the energy sector. To know more: https://industrymeetings.iese.edu https://www.fundacionnaturgy.org/energia-medio-ambiente/foros/energy-prospectives/