Brussels, 04/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - During their second meeting on Wednesday 29 and Thursday 30 June in Peking, Energy Ministers from G20 countries (South Africa, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, South Korea, US, France, Italy, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, United Kingdom, Russia, Turkey and the EU) reasserted the commitment by the G20 forum in favour of energy access for disadvantaged regions and for the expansion of renewable energies.
In a joint press release, G20 ministers reiterated their commitment to carrying out joint action, in line with the sustainable development objectives for 2030, "to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable and modern energy for all". In this context they propose to extend the action plan to strengthen energy access for disadvantaged regions, adopted during their first meeting in October 2015 (see EUROPE 11403), to the Asia-Pacific region, in addition to the sub-Saharan African region.
G20 ministers highlighted the "important role" of renewable energies in attaining the target set out during the international climate conference in December 2015 in Paris (COP 21). In this context, they adopted a G20 action plan on renewable energies and agreed to pursue implementation of the G20 "toolbox" of voluntary options on the introduction of renewable energies, adopted during their Istanbul meeting and developed under the auspices of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Ministers also encouraged cooperation on standards for speeding up the introduction of smart networks and their interoperability for integrating renewables.
G20 ministers recognised the role of nuclear power in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions for countries that choose to use it and emphasised the need to ensure optimum nuclear safety standards, security and non-proliferation.
G20 ministers have put energy efficiency on the "long-term priority" list, given the advantages it could provide at economic, social and environmental levels. They have therefore adopted an extensive flagship programme to "significantly" improve energy efficiency in their respective countries.
Ministers also affirmed the commitment of G20 countries to work together on the global energy architecture and meet the global challenges in this sector by strengthening sustainable energy security through dialogue, cooperation and the diversification of energy sources and routes.
G20 ministers welcomed the "significant progress" achieved since 2009 by G20 forum countries to rationalise and gradually eliminate subsidies for inefficient fossil fuels and they also made a commitment to "making further progress" in this domain. In this connection, they said that they were eagerly anticipating the results of the voluntary "peer reviews" conducted by the US and China and welcomed the intention expressed by Germany, Indonesia and Mexico to carry out these reviews as well.
Ministers reaffirmed the G20's commitment to market transparency and announced their determination to strengthen the international cooperation initiative for improving the availability and reliability of oil and natural gas data, based on the JODI initiative. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)