Brussels, 16/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - “Achieving security and sustainability will require hard decisions by all nations. … We recognise that with every day, the challenges become that much greater”. This was the conclusion of the energy ministers of the 26 International Energy Agency (IEA) member countries meeting in Paris on 14-15 May to discuss energy security and ways of “binding the energy gap”. 17 EU member states belong to the IEA, and this number will soon rise to 19 with Poland and Slovakia joining in late 2007/early 2008.
“Since our last meeting in 2005 (see EUROPE 8942), the world has confronted even greater challenges,” ministers say in their final declaration, referring to the high level and volatility of energy prices, mounting geopolitical risks, soaring investment costs, insufficient capital spending and rapidly growing CO2 emissions.
For “a sustainable energy future”, IEA energy ministers stress energy efficiency. “We … consider implementing as soon as possible, according to national circumstances, the further recommendations on improving energy efficiency that the IEA has prepared as part of the programme supporting the (2005) G8 Gleneagles (summit) Plan of Action”, such as energy efficiency standards for new buildings, fuel efficiency standards for vehicles and compulsory appliance standards, they say. In addition, they call on the IEA to “promote the development of efficiency goals and action plans at all levels of government, making use of sector-specific benchmarking tools to bring energy efficiency to best practice levels across the globe”.
Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, taking part in the meeting, called for an international agreement on energy efficiency bringing together the OECD countries and the emerging countries to agree on common approaches to reach the final goal of saving energy. To promote energy efficiency worldwide, this agreement would be based on enhanced cooperation in several areas, like regulatory issues, exchange of information of energy efficiency strategies, and cooperation in R&D.
In their declaration, IEA energy ministers also highlighted the need to: - “draw on all energy sources, origins, suppliers and routes to markets”; - “accelerate the development and deployment of new technologies”, which will come about, they say, by the enhancing of national programmes for the deployment of renewables and, subject to national policies, nuclear power, and also through the promotion of clean coal and through early deployment of carbon capture and storage, along with increased R&D efforts to reduce the costs of new technologies such as biofuels, solar energy, hydrogen fuel cells and electric vehicles; - “enhance our energy technology collaboration with major emerging economies, bilaterally and through the IEA's technology network”.
Finally, while noting the importance of greater transparency, stability and predictability of regulatory frameworks to boost investment, as well as better data for timely investment, the IEA ministers say they remain committed to “market principles”.
Transatlantic differences on energy security and climate policy
Hard on the heels of the EU-United States summit of 30 April, which produced a joint declaration of no consequence to international climate policy, and one month before the G8 summit in Heiligendamm, the IEA ministerial meeting showed once again that in terms of energy security and climate policy, the United States, which sees technology as the answer, and the signatories of the Kyoto Protocol, led by the EU, which support quantified objectives, are not listening to one another. Repeating the Bush administration mantra, US Secretary of State for Energy Samuel Bodman told press on Monday that Washington believes technology to be “the solution” to reduce fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, without interrupting growth.
Mr Bodman also stressed the need to diversify energy suppliers, particularly for Europe, which he feels is threatened by last week's gas agreement in principle between Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, to increase Turkmen gas exports to Russia. If it were to come about, this agreement could, Washington believes, have implications for the Nabucco project, in which US companies are involved. Mr Piebalgs is more optimistic and, in similar fashion on Tuesday, IEA Executive Director Claude Mandil put things into perspective, arguing that instead of gas, other sources of energy, like coal or renewables, could easily be used. (eh)