Senior executives, policymakers, diplomats, and energy experts gathered in Doha on Wednesday for the Al-Attiyah Foundation’s third CEO Roundtable of the year to discuss emerging risks reshaping global energy security. The event, held under the Chatham House Rule, focused on strategies for building resilience within energy systems amid a growing array of interconnected threats.
The roundtable, titled “The New Energy Security: Building Resilient Energy Systems in an Era of Multiple Risks,” addressed challenges stemming from cyberattacks, extreme weather, geopolitical conflicts, shipping disruptions, and fragile supply chains. These factors, increasingly intertwined, highlight the need for energy security frameworks to extend beyond traditional measures such as oil, gas, and electricity availability.
Moderated by broadcaster Nawied Jabarkhyl, the discussion included expert contributions from Michael Williamson, Section Chief at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific; Anne-Sophie Corbeau, Global Research Scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy; Jim Krane, Diana Tamari Sabbagh Fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy; and Jan-Eric Fähnrich, Global Head of Gas and LNG Analytics at Rystad Energy.
Participants examined how energy security now involves the resilience of infrastructure—such as grids, pipelines, and terminals—as well as digital control systems and access to critical supplies including minerals, equipment, semiconductors, and specialist services. They highlighted the increasing risks posed by compound events, where a geopolitical crisis, for example, can simultaneously disrupt shipping routes, escalate insurance costs, and prompt cybersecurity incidents. Similarly, extreme weather events may inflict physical damage on infrastructure while driving soaring electricity demand.
Cybersecurity was a central focus, with energy companies’ dependence on interconnected digital technologies—ranging from sensors and industrial control systems to cloud services and artificial intelligence—rendering physical operations and essential services vulnerable to cascading failures if a single digital component is compromised.
The roundtable also addressed the mounting pressures climate change places on energy infrastructure. Participants discussed how heatwaves, floods, storms, wildfires, and water scarcity threaten assets and electricity networks, underscoring the urgent need to integrate climate resilience into infrastructure design, maintenance, emergency preparedness, and investment planning.
Following the session, Dr. Saud Bin Abdullah Al-Attiyah, Chairman of the Al-Attiyah Foundation’s Board of Trustees, emphasized that securing energy supply now entails managing a complex web of geopolitical, technological, environmental, and commercial risks. He noted that the roundtable enabled leaders to identify practical measures for enhancing resilience while preserving affordability and advancing sustainability goals.
The Al-Attiyah Foundation’s CEO Roundtable Series continues to serve as a key platform for fostering open dialogue and delivering independent analysis on the future of global energy and sustainable development.