Energy and Democracy Club of Madrid Annual Conference "Democratizing Energy: Geopolitics and Power"

The nexus between energy and democracy is important. The political and geopolitical dimensions of current energy concerns animate interest in the connections and implied challenges for citizens, businesses and governments. The uneven international distribution of energy resources, growing energy consumption, steady increase in energy prices, and continuing reconfigurations of energy markets present an array of problems often highlighted under the heading of energy security. And the issues have moved into the mainstream, symbolized by the joint award in 2007 of the Nobel Peace Prize to Vice President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for their work calling for action to deal with the accumulation of greenhouse gases and the threats of global warming.