Statement to the G8, the President of the World Bank and the Executive Director of the IEA
Research by the World Bank and the International Energy Agency suggests that USD 300 billion per year for the next 25 years will need to be invested to meet the energy needs of developing countries and economies in transition. If we are smart, the investment will be channelled to increase climate and energy security as well as meeting economic and development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, in a low carbon way. The World Bank estimates that adapting to the unavoidable impacts of climate change will require an additional USD 10-40 billion per year. If we do not take serious mitigation action now, this figure will increase dramatically and there will be severe impacts on public health and the availability of critical resources including water. Against this background, our messages to the G8 leaders meeting in St Petersburg are: Action on climate change is urgent Climate security and energy security are inextricably linked. We welcome the discussion at St Petersburg and encourage the integration of the energy security and climate change elements. Energy efficiency and diversification of energy sources are key responses to both. For developing countries access to energy is vital for sustainable economic development and poverty alleviation. We strongly recommend that energy security and climate security remain at the top of the international agenda for the forthcoming German and Japanese presidencies of the G8 We urge G8 leaders to show leadership by developing a clear framework that accelerates a shift to low carbon economies, including investment in low carbon R&D and business development, in line with the objective of establishing a long term stabilisation goal to avoid dangerous climate change We urge the G8 to make adaptation a priority - it is the poor who are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. We welcome the Mexican chairmanship of the Gleneagles Dialogue in 2006 and urge Heads of Government from the 20 participating countries to ensure that environment ministers, and particularly energy ministers, attend the ministerial in Mexico in October We urge G8 finance ministers to meet in early 2007 to secure the necessary finance to drive forward the World Bank’s Energy Investment Framework
This statement was formulated by legislators and participants from the G8+5 countries, Members of the European Parliament, business leaders and civil society representatives who met in Brussels 7th – 9th July as part of the ongoing G8+5 Legislators Dialogue on climate change. www.globeinternational.org
Forum Co-Chairs’ Summary The Forum was Co-Chaired by Mr. Anders Wijkman MEP, European Parliament Rapporteur on a post 2012 settlement, Ms Joan Ruddock, UK Member of Parliament & Dialogue Co-Chair & the Rt Hon Elliot Morley MP, UK Prime Minister’s Special Representative to the Gleneagles Dialogue. Climate change and sustainable development are two of the greatest challenges we face. To stabilise the climate before dangerous impacts become unavoidable requires an urgent acceleration of public and private investment towards a lowcarbon global economy. We believe that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is a solid foundation for our efforts and the Kyoto Protocol is a significant first step. But existing policies and processes will not by themselves deliver the answers at current levels of urgency. We must expand the limits of the possible. That means framing the debate in ways that open up new political space for action, and building the broader coalitions between governments, the private sector, legislators and civil society. We therefore applaud the G8 leaders for initiating, at the Gleneagles Summit last year, a new dialogue between 20 countries with the greatest energy needs to address climate change, clean energy and sustainable development. The Gleneagles Dialogue has created a political space, away from the formal UN negotiations, to discuss new ideas, identify common ground and practical actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We also applaud the invitation to multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and the International Energy Agency (IEA), whose involvement is vital to generating consensus between countries. We endorse the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, enshrined in the UNFCCC, and strongly urge that this is embedded into any future framework, together with a commitment to build on existing green house gas market based mechanisms such as the Clean Development Mechanism and JI, and governmentprivate partnerships in the context of international coordination. We strongly agree with the calls from business for climate policy to be “long, loud and legal”: long, as in long term, to chime with capital investment cycles; loud enough to ensure clarity and consistency of messaging; and legal in terms of being underpinned by a binding international framework. Ultimately it is the innovation and investment of business, from multinationals to small and medium sized enterprises, that will deliver the low carbon solutions we need to successfully tackle climate change. Russian G8 presidency We welcome the decision of the Russian government to build on the Gleneagles G8 Summit by focusing on the issue of energy security. It is our belief that energy security and climate security should be dealt with together. If we do not successfully address both, we risk undermining our development, economic and security goals. We believe that energy efficiency and the diversification of energy sources are key responses. By using energy more efficiently and diversifying our energy sources we
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can reduce the energy intensity of our economies, reduce the stress on our energy infrastructure, strengthen development and, at the same time, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. We also recognise the importance of reducing energy poverty and the need for access to energy to meet the Millennium Development Goals. We strongly endorse the statement issued by the Joint Science Academies on Energy Sustainability and Security in June 2006. We look forward to strong outcomes from the St Petersburg Summit on energy efficiency, diversification of energy sources and reducing energy poverty, including a commitment to: Adopt stringent energy efficiency standards and better labelling for energy intensive products, taking into account the different circumstances of developed and developing countries Introduce financial and tax incentives to promote the development and use of energy efficient technologies Use the power of public procurement to demonstrate leadership through incorporating energy efficient technologies and practices in government buildings and purchasing decisions Expand and strengthen the Global Environment Facility’s involvement in energy efficiency projects Increase public awareness about the benefits of energy efficiency Promote a diverse energy mix including the further development of low carbon energy sources and wider use of renewable energy
IEA Energy Technology Perspectives We welcome the publication of the IEA’s Energy Technology Perspectives: Scenarios and Strategies to 2050 (ETP) as part of the IEA’s response to the call from G8 leaders for the Agency to advise on alternative scenarios and strategies aimed at a “clean, clever and competitive energy future”. We believe the key points for G8 Heads attention are: A shift to cleaner technologies can be achieved at costs that are manageable. The introduction of clean technologies can be accelerated with a net cost of below USD25 per tonne of CO2. This figure is lower than the average price of CO2 permits under the European Emissions Trading Scheme in the last 12 months. Energy efficiency is essential. The IEA estimates that energy efficiency improvements alone can reduce the world’s energy demand in 2050 by an amount equivalent to almost half of today’s global energy consumption if governments are willing to implement measures that encourage the investment in energy efficient technologies.
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Decarbonising power generation is possible. Given projected use of fossil fuels, the capture and storage of CO2 emitted from power generation or industrial processes will be a key technology. Transport is key to reduce growth in oil demand. The IEA state that biofuels and more efficient vehicles can reduce the expected growth in oil demand for surface transport by almost 50 per cent by 2050. Substantial and urgent action is needed. Existing and emerging energy technologies can guide the world towards a more secure and sustainable energy future, but this will require dynamic financial and policy efforts by both the public and the private sector and unprecedented cooperation between developed and developing nations.
We strongly urge G8 leaders to act on the IEA’s work to develop the necessary framework to ensure that the expected USD 16 trillion of investment in energy over the next 30 years is directed into low carbon infrastructure to deliver a secure energy future. The World Bank’s Energy Investment Framework We look forward to the World Bank’s Energy Investment Framework (EIF) which the Bank has been developing in consultation with the regional development banks and the private sector. We believe the framework has the potential to significantly increase the public and private investment in these areas (in the order of several billion dollars per year). It will require a significant and long-term commitment of finance, capacity and coordination by the World Bank and the regional development banks. We need to ensure that progress with the Framework is maintained, to keep these issues high on the political agenda, and to keep up the pressure for international action. As legislators we undertake to lobby our governments to ensure the EIF receives the required support. We support the World Bank’s work to develop the Framework and look forward to it submitting a further report to the Annual Meetings in Singapore, in September, including a detailed work programme for the period 2006-2008. We welcome the expansion of sustainable development at the World Bank through the integration of key sectors such as environment infrastructure, social development and agriculture under a common platform. We hope that this will result in the adoption of a comprehensive approach that will favour climate friendly policies and increased investment in clean energy in developing countries.
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Next steps We strongly endorse the work of the World Bank, and that of the IEA. We particularly urge countries to ensure that there is a strong statement of support from all the World Bank’s stakeholders at Singapore in September to ensure the Bank’s proposals can be turned quickly into reality. For 2007 we: Urge the German government to use its presidencies of the G8 and the EU to build on the work of the Gleneagles Dialogue and the Russian G8 presidency, focusing on issues such as energy efficiency, clean energy and adaptation.
Key points for the G8+5 Legislators’ Dialogue working groups: Working Group on Technology, Market Mechanisms & Economics Legislators are change agents The term “Incentives” is a proxy for “Who pays?” Access to energy is vital – we must remember that 230,000 villages in India do not have electricity Working Group on Adaptation We are locked into inevitable climate change impacts through historical emissions. Developing countries will be hit hardest. Need to mainstream adaptation into all, not just environmental, policies Recommend a new organisation is considered that is focused on climate change adaptation and consolidates existing international organisations / bodies Working Group on Efficiency A move to a low carbon economy must include energy efficiency Energy efficiency can create shareholder value, jobs and new markets as well as assisting sustainable development Action in the private sector is key but governments are critical for leadership and in forming public-private partnerships Need more information exchanges and better public education Background
Legislators and representatives from the G8 countries, the European Parliament, together th th with those from Brazil, China, India and South Africa, convened in Brussels on 7 -8 July with business leaders and civil society representatives under the banner of the “G8+5 Climate Change Dialogue”. This dialogue, set up and facilitated by GLOBE in conjunction with the Com+ Alliance, is shadowing the official Gleneagles Dialogue process agreed at the UK’s G8 Summit in 2005. Our discussions over the past two days have been informed by presentations and interventions from a wide range of legislators, international institutions and business including: Stavros Dimas, European Commissioner for Environment, Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank; US Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman (in a joint letter); Elliot Morley, the UK Prime Minister’s Special Representative to the Gleneagles Dialogue; Zhang Wantai, Member of the Chinese National People’s Congress & Vice Chairman of the Environment Committee; Neil Hirst, Director Research & Development at the International Energy Agency, BP, Enel-Spa and Otaviano Canuto, Executive Director to the World Bank for Brazil.
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